The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 kjv)

The Book of ECCLESIASTES The title of this book in Hebrew, Qoeheleth (6953), is the word translated "Preacher" in one, verse one. The English title is a transliteration of the title in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. The Greek word Ekklesiastes, which means "speaker of a called out assembly," is derived from the word ekklesia (1577), which is the Testament word for "church." Solomon's name does not explicitly appear in the text, but tradition has uniformly ascribed the book to him. In verse one, the author describes himself as the "son of David, king in Jerusalem." Though other "sons" of David did become king in Jerusalem, the contents of the book and the facts about the author, make it clear that it was Solomon. No one could to be over Jerusalem and as wise as Solomon (EccI. 1:16).   Furthermore, who else had wherewithal to build and acquire goods that Solomon had (Eccl. 2:3 -8)? Likewise, are any so well known for the setting forth of many proverbs (EccI. 12:9)? It seems that Solomon, after a lifetime of seeking after the things of this world, was brought to repentance by the rebuke of the Lord (1 Kgs. 11:9 -13).   Most likely, he sat down at this time and wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, about the vanity of his worldly pursuits and attempts to find peace and joy in temporal things. The application of this book to the Christian life is seen in that Solomon is cautioning those who know Christ as their personal Savior to return from their prodigal ways. Those who are not saved are warned by Solomon's own example eat its best is but vanity without Christ. The perspective of Solomon at the time he wrote is the key to the proper understanding of the Book of Ecclesiastes and to explaining its general pessimism. Solomon writes from the perspective by which he had lived most of his life, that of one "under the sun" (Eccl. 1:3 and 30 other occurrences!) It is from the earthly, secular perspective that life becomes futile. Yet even so, there are times when Solomon's faith in God is made known (Eccl.12:13, 14 is usually referred to, but this is only the climax of thoughts like 2:25; 3:11; 17; 8:12; 13; 11:9). Solomon's consideration of life without God led him to the assessment that life is unjust. Oppression goes on, the wicked prosper, and the fruits of man's labor pass from his control (Eccl. 1:15; 2:21; 4:1, 8; 6:2; 7:15). Not only this, but the Preacher ended up like the pleasure-seekers of today; "You may as well enjoy yourself, because it will soon be all over" (Eccl. 2:24; 3:12; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7 -10). Countless lives throughout history have confirmed the Preacher's findings; wisdom, pleasure, alcohol, human achievement, great riches, sex - all lead to emptiness, "vanity," if there is not a proper relationship to God (EccI. 1:13; 2:1, 3, 8, 10, 12). [Source for Introduction of chapter: Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible KJV edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D. AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 37422]