1️⃣ The Author – Two Voices at Work
Ecclesiastes opens with: “The words of Qoheleth, the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (1:1). “Qoheleth” isn’t a person’s name but a Hebrew title for “The Gatherer”—someone who gathers people or wisdom. In English, the book’s title comes from the Greek ekklesia (“assembly”).
The book has two voices:
- The Teacher (Qoheleth) – The middle-aged critic (1:3–12:7) who observes life “under the sun” with brutal honesty, exposing its vanities and frustrations.
- The Author – The frame narrator (1:1; 12:9–14) who has collected the Teacher’s sayings, then offers the final word: “Fear God and keep His commandments” (12:13).
The book is like a dialogue: The Teacher gives us the hard questions; the Author provides the final answer.
2️⃣ Genre – The Bible’s Philosophy Book
Ecclesiastes is the Bible’s only pure philosophy book—life examined with the light of human reason alone, without direct revelation breaking in.
Peter Kreeft puts it this way: “This book is the question to which the rest of the Bible is the answer.”
The book is essentially a thought experiment: What happens when we search for life’s meaning with only what we can see “under the sun”?
The Teacher uses careful observation—like a philosopher or scientist—testing wisdom, pleasure, work, wealth, and religion.
3️⃣ Key Message – Vanity, Vanity, Vanity!
The key word of Ecclesiastes is “vanity” or hevel—used 38 times.
- Literal meaning: smoke, vapor, breath.
- Metaphor: life is fleeting, elusive, and hard to grasp like smoke—it’s mysterious and impossible to grasp or control.
The Teacher tests 5 candidates for life’s meaning, and shows how each one comes up short:
- Wisdom (1:12–18)
- Pleasure (2:1–11)
- Wealth and power (2:8)
- Honor, prestige, or legacy (2:18–19)
- External legalistic religion (7:16–18)
He also confronts 3 realities that make life hevel:
- Time – The march of time erases all we achieve (1:3–11).
- Death – The great equalizer; wise and foolish, rich and poor all face it (11:7–12:7).
- Chance – Life is unpredictable; control is an illusion.
Peter Kreeft sums it up: “Ecclesiastes lays bare the God-sized hole in the human heart that all God-substitutes fail to fill—the emptiness left by the removal of God to a position of remoteness and irrelevance. This is the very emptiness that modern men and women have covered up by a thousand diversions, here in this most diverse and diverting civilization in history. Ecclesiastes blows our cover. Infinitely superior to the bland blandishments of pop psychology with its shallow “feel-good” ideals, Ecclesiastes’ tough-minded honesty rises to the dignity of despair.”
So how should we live in the midst of hevel?
- The Teacher calls us to accept life as a gift and enjoy simple blessings, such as food, work, relationships—without expecting them to secure ultimate meaning.
- The Author concludes by calling us to live with reverence, aware that everything rests in God’s hands.
4️⃣ Relevance Today – Christ is the Answer
The Teacher’s words are deliberately unsettling—like “goads” (12:11)—prodding us toward deeper reflection.
For today, Ecclesiastes is shockingly relevant:
- It voices the restlessness of life without God at the center. As St. Augustine wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
- It exposes the emptiness of wealth, pleasure, success, and even religion when detached from living faith.
The Author closes with: “Fear God and keep His commandments” (12:13). That’s the Old Testament’s answer…
But the full answer comes in Jesus Christ:
- He alone conquers death—the greatest hevel.
- He alone brings eternal life—turning life’s fleeting beauty into everlasting joy.
- He alone gives us love—and “love is the meaning of life because love is the very nature of God who designed life… True religion is the love of God and neighbour. Try that; you’ll like it” (Peter Kreeft).
💡 Summary in One Line
Ecclesiastes asks the deepest human question—Does life have meaning?—and shows that apart from God, all is hevel. Christ is the answer who turns vanity into victory.
Further Resources:
Peter Kreeft, You Can Understand the Bible.
Prodigal Catholic 
Leave a comment