Ecclesiastes 1 is the first Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the Ecclesiastes, Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book contains philosophical speeches by a character called ''Qoheleth'' ("the Teacher"; 'one who speaks before an assembly') composed probably between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC. Peshitta, Targum, and Talmud, as well as most Jewish and Christian readership, attribute the authorship of the book to King Solomon. This chapter contains the title of the book, the exposition of some fundamental observations and the problem of life, especially the failure of wisdom.

Text

The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew. Chapters and verses of the Bible, This chapter is divided into 18 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Biblical Hebrew, Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Leningrad Codex, Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q110, 4QQoh (4Q110; 30 BC30 AD; extant verses 8–15). CodexGigas 177 Proverbs

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

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^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; Biblia Hebraica (Kittel), BHK:

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^S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A;

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^A; 5th century). The Greek text is probably derived from the work of Aquila of Sinope or his followers.

Verse 1

:''The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.'' *"Preacher": "Convener" or "Collector"; , ' (so throughout Ecclesiastes), meaning simply "teacher" (a Hebrew participle). Its verbal root ' means 'to assemble'. * "The son of David, king in Jerusalem" may refer to any king in the line of David ("Davidic King"). This is picked up in , which states that he ruled "Israel" from Jerusalem; if "Israel" is meant to include the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Northern Kingdom of Israel, then the only descendants of David to rule it were Solomon or his son, the 'far-from-wise Rehoboam'. From the further descriptions in chapter 1 and 2 clearly "''Qoheleth''" refers to Solomon, although the name 'Solomon' is avoided, not explicitly claimed as in or .

Prologue (verses 2–11)

Verse 2

:''Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,'' ::''vanity of vanities! All is vanity.'' The Lexham English Bible calls this verse the preacher's "motto". The motto appears again at the end of his teaching in Ecclesiastes 12:8. "Vanity", the key term of this book, translates the Hebrew term , ',Hebrew Text Analysis: Ecclesiastes 1:2
Biblehub meaning "vanity" or "vain", concretely referring to a "mist", "vapor", or "mere breath", and metaphorically to 'something that is fleeting or elusive' (with different nuances depending on the context).Note [a] on Ecclesiastes 1:2 in ESV It can also be translated as 'Absurdity, Frustration, Futility, Nonsense'. The word appears five times in this verse alone and is found in 29 other verses in Ecclesiastes. "Vanity of vanities" reflects the Hebrew: ('' '').

Verse 3

:''What profit has a man from all his labor'' :''In which he toils under the sun?'' This rhetorical question follows the claim of "vanity" and is followed by the portrayal of a world 'impervious to human effort.' *"Profit" (ESV: "gain"; , ',Hebrew Text Analysis: Ecclesiastes 1:3
Biblehub): a term used in (ancient) commerce. *Both the noun "labor" and the verb "toil" come from the Hebrew root word ''amal'' (, as or ) which may refer to 'physical effort' (cf. ; ) or to 'mental and emotional heaviness' (cf. ; ).

Verse 9

Verse 9 contains the well-known saying, "wikt:there is nothing new under the sun, there is nothing new under the sun".

Verse 11

:''There is no remembrance of former things,'' :''Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come'' :''By those who will come after.'' "So ends the prologue of the book, sounding its terrible sentence of despair on life and all its interests."Plumptre, E. H. (1888)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
on Ecclesiastes 1, accessed 12 September 2022 Edward Plumptre argues that "former things" and "things ... to come" should be translated as "former men" and "those that shall come after". The New International Version translates this verse as "No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them".

The failure of wisdom (verses 12–18)

The problems declared in the earlier part are attempted to be solved using 'wisdom', but the conclusion in this part is that wisdom can only enlarge one's view of the problem but does not bring any solution, and the real solution is still to be anticipated. Biblical commentator Stuart Weeks reads these verses with Ecclesiastes 2, chapter 2 as a single "fictional memoir" recounting the preacher's "quest for understanding".

Verse 13

:''I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.'' The King James Version of this verse reads "I gave my heart ...", words "expressive of the spirit of an earnest seeker, [and] eminently characteristic of this book". In Hebrew thought, the heart#Symbolism, heart is the seat of life, or emotion, but also the seat of reason.

Verse 18

:''For in much wisdom is much grief,'' :''And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow'' NKJV ''The Teacher'' (Qoheleth) pessimistically concludes that wisdom and knowledge only enhance 'vexation and sorrow'.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

* Judaism, Jewish translations: *
Kohelet – Ecclesiastes - Chapter 1 (Judaica Press)
translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org * Christianity, Christian translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 King James Version
* Various versions {{Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes chapters, 01