ECCLESIASTES, (Lat.. from Gk. I K KX770" ekkli'Riasto's, one concerned with an assembly, from IKKX7rria, assembly). A philosophical book belonging to the third divi shin of the Old Testament collection known as Ilagiographa. The Ilehre• name is Kohclefh, which is translated into Greek as Frelexinsfes, on the supposition that the Hebrew stem under lying is to he taken in the of as sembly, so that Koheleth is one who addresses or convenes an assembly, i.e. a preacher. This ex planation of the name, however. is doubtful, a strong objection to it being that it does lint ac count for the feminine ending which the Hebrew word exhibits. To assume. 'as sonic scholars are inclined to do, that the speaker is 'personified wisdom' and hence the feminine) is not satis nowhere is wisdom mentioned as the speaker. Various other explanations have been brought form:1rd. none of which. however, has filet with general acceptance. Koheleth presses one as an intent halal disguise, and therefore a more or less artificial formation, and since kahal is a characteristic Hebrew word for 'congregation! it is not impossible that by in venting the form Kohdeth. the author intends to carry the idea of anonymity. kohc/cth would thus be about the equivalent of our anonymous.
The book itself consists of twelve chapters. forming a series of discourses on the vanity of earthly things, and is put into the mouth of Koheleth. who describes himself as "a son of David. King in Jerusalem" (i. 1). \Vhether Solomon was originally in the mind of the author is not certain, for of David' may be an interpolation: hut it is probable. for. to the .1PWS of the post-exilic period, to which Ecclesi astes belongs, Solomon had become the idea] of a king endowed with wisdom, riches, and power, and who. therefore. could properly be chosen as an illustration for the central doctrine of the author's philosophy. To prove the theory of the vanity of life it was necessary to choose sonic one who could represent life in all its manifesta tions. Solomon was such a man. and the author's argument is that if Solomon came to the conclusion that wisdom. pleasures. riches, power. were all vain. there could be no doubt about it. The introduction of Solomon by im plication gave rise to the tradition which as cribed the authorship to Solomon. This tradi tion prevented a proper understanding and gave rise to methods of interpretation that disguised the real character of the book. which is mi doubtedly skeptical. Everything is questioned— the value of virtue. immortality. divine justice, the providence of God, the advantage of wisdom —in short. everything hut the existence of God
Himself The character of the skepticism is pe culiarly Oriental. The tone is the same that we find in Omar Khayyam, so that it is not to assume an influence of Greek thought, thought such influence undoubtedly ex isted at the time of the composition of Ecclesi astes. The hook, however, must belong to a period of depression in the history of the Jews when internal conditions suggested a doubt as to the validity of the prophetical teachings which had emphasized God's providence for Israel. ills justice and goodness, and the necessity of vir tue and morality as a condition to securing divine favor and with it happiness. Such a period sets in toward the close of the Persian dominion. and the depression became accentuated from one age to the other, so that it is difficult to pick out any particular decade after the fourth century to which Ecclesiastes is more applicable than any other. llence scholars vary considerably in assigning a date to Eeclesiastes; and. while some pass beyond the fourth century, several are inclined to bring the date of the com position down to the days of Herod. The Ian gnage points to a late date. The Book of Daniel, with its optimism and its aim to en courage the Jews in the hour of greatest despair, is the antidote and antithesis to Ecclesiastes, and, except for the fact that an author might fear to produce so pessimistic a work in such perilous times as the days of Antiochus Epiph :me•. one is tempted to suppose that the two hooks in the same period.
Ecclesiastes became a popular book. much to the alarm of pious Jews, who shrank from its skeptical tone and conclusions. Hence the at tempt Was Made to tone down its most audacious utterances, to intersperse liberally throughout the book phrases indicative of the author's piety, and above all, by adding a pious con elusion, to give to the book a religious This was done with such success that the skep tical tone was disguised and the book, though not without discussion by the Jewish rabbis, was admitted into the canon.
Consult the commentaries of Graetz. Delitzsch, Renan, 1111111litre, Wright, Ilitzig, and Ewald: also ('heyne, Job and Solomon ( IS87) ; Palm, Die Kohact Littcratur (Mannheim. ISSif ; Schiffer, Das Bach Kohelet much (1,r ,lu)'assung der jiidischen Weisel? des Talmud:: (Leipzig. ISS4) Biekell, Koheleths Untersachangen tiler den Werth des Daseins (Innsbruck, 1SS6) ; Dil lon. Skeptics of the Old Testament (London, lS95).