A Layman's Commentary on Books of the Bible

This chapter makes a perfect conclusion for the book of Ecclesiastes. Essentially, the writer reviews the points he has made, namely that life is fleeting and futile, and that we must keep our hearts and our heads up, seeing joy and reward as present within the speeding time capsule of our lives rather than as things to be sought outside our daily experience. Finally, in one of the final verses ( 12:13 ) he concludes by encapsulating this collection of wisdom into two simple commands: “Fear God, and keep his commandments , for this is the whole duty of man.” As a refresher, here is this verse annotated: “Fear God” = pay attention to what God is doing in the world and be prepared to participate in this work (Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places ) “and keep his commandments” = love God and love others (Jesus) Though the specific details of how each of us should do these things are not prescribed, this is quite obviously for good reason: the wo...

The general tenor of this chapter seems to be that in its essence life is a mystery, unpredictable, uncontrollable, and in the end something we participate in via appreciation rather than via our commanding presence. (The thought that attempting to “manhandle” life is a futile endeavor came to mind as I read, which is interesting primarily because the term “mansplaining” has come to common usage the last few years, which reminded me that we’ve made gender designations for particular behaviors for decades. At this point in time, the generalized male approach to things is seen as a negative (and rightly so), but it would be interesting to be an observant ghost a hundred years from now to see how the balance between gender perspectives plays out.) Another common phrase in current times is “It is what it is,” and while I mostly categorize this as “athlete interview talk,” it’s become much more ubiquitous than that. This phrase annoys me every time I hear it because it essentially ...

A brief and impressionistic commentary as the goal of finishing the book of Ecclesiastes looms. On some level, futility remains a theme in this chapter, but I also find portions to be fairly esoteric, for example, “A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left” ( 10:2 ) I assume this means something simple like a wise man knows and pays attention to his heart, but what is wisdom? A series of paraphrases / loose interpretations 10: 1-3 Good is easily spoiled by bad, like flies in a fine ointment or a mistake that turns a good reputation into one of scandal. Also, a fool betrays his foolishness when he speaks. 10:5-7 Don’t be surprised if things are turned on their head: foolish actions are honored, the wealthy are disgraced, the lowly are esteemed, and those of noble quality go unnoticed. Commentary : a buffoon is president of the United States (“folly is set in great dignity” - 10:6b ) 10:8-9 Nature will laugh at your labor. ...