Ecclesiastes 1:1-11
GENERAL INTRODUCTION... [ Continue Reading ]
GENERAL INTRODUCTION... [ Continue Reading ]
The words of the Preacher, in the sense of one who, from the rich stock of his knowledge, gives wise and profitable instruction, the reference being to Solomon, THE SON OF DAVID, KING IN JERUSALEM, the capital of the entire kingdom of Israel and Judah at that time. The fact that Solomon does not men... [ Continue Reading ]
Vanity of vanities, the most utter vanity, SAITH THE PREACHER, thereby announcing the theme of his entire book, VANITY OF VANITIES; ALL IS VANITY, that is, all earthly nature and everything pertaining to temporal things has been perverted, in consequence of sin, so that it no longer serves the origi... [ Continue Reading ]
What profit, what lasting value, what enduring advantage, HATH A MAN OF ALL HIS LABOR, the toil and exertion with which he fatigues himself, WHICH HE TAKETH UNDER THE SUN? The author does not say that man's labor is useless, but that, in itself, it has no enduring, eternal value. While the sun runs... [ Continue Reading ]
One generation passeth away, sinking down into the dust of death, AND ANOTHER GENERATION COMETH, replacing those who are laid in the grave; there is a continual going and coming; BUT THE EARTH ABIDETH FOREVER, it stands the same, as long as the Lord so decrees, in the midst of the turmoil of changin... [ Continue Reading ]
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, steadily pursuing his course, AND HASTETH TO HIS PLACE WHERE HE AROSE, to come up again in the east, governing time as the Lord ordered, Genesis 1:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north, following certain fixed laws of the universe; IT WHIRLETH ABOUT CONTINUALLY, in an ever-returning change, AND THE WIND RETURNETH AGAIN ACCORDING TO HIS CIRCUITS, in courses whose general regularity has been learned even by human obse... [ Continue Reading ]
All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full, it does not overflow on account of the immense masses of water which it constantly receives; UNTO THE PLACE FROM WHENCE THE RIVERS COME, THITHER THEY RETURN AGAIN, in a constant evaporation and condensation, the cycle of ocean, clouds and fog... [ Continue Reading ]
All things are full of labor, full of trouble, weariness, fatigue on account of the curse following sin, Genesis 3:19; MAN CANNOT UTTER IT, the endlessness and burden of human troubles cannot be told by human tongue, it is beyond man's ability to express it; THE EYE IS NOT SATISFIED WITH SEEING, NOR... [ Continue Reading ]
The thing that hath been, that which has happened time and again in the past, IT IS THAT WHICH SHALL BE; AND THAT WHICH IS DONE IS THAT WHICH SHALL BE DONE, occurring over and over again in human experience; AND THERE IS NO NEW THING UNDER THE SUN, no matter how men may change their environment and... [ Continue Reading ]
Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? Has human nature and the misery of human life changed since the fall of man? IT HATH BEEN ALREADY OF OLD TIME, WHICH WAS BEFORE US, always, within the memory of man.... [ Continue Reading ]
There is no remembrance of former things, men forget the lessons which the insufficient records of the past teach them; NEITHER SHALL THERE BE ANY REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS THAT ARE TO COME WITH THOSE THAT SHALL COME AFTER, for the impressive warnings of even the greatest cataclysms in the history of th... [ Continue Reading ]
I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem, over the entire nation, as Solomon states in looking back over his long reign.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE UNRELIABILITY OF EARTHLY WISDOM... [ Continue Reading ]
And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom, applying the wisdom given him by the Lord with all zeal, CONCERNING ALL THINGS THAT ARE DONE UNDER HEAVEN, the motives, acts, and lives of men everywhere; THIS SORE TRAVAIL, namely, the zealous searching, the steady and ceaseless endeavor to inqu... [ Continue Reading ]
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, in a careful observation of the ways of men; AND, BEHOLD, ALL IS VANITY AND VEXATION OF SPIRIT, efforts which bring about no lasting good, for all the affliction of mind with which men strive to go forward cannot bring them lasting good fortune... [ Continue Reading ]
That which is crooked cannot be made straight, human beings cannot alter what has been determined by God, even as they cannot, by their own reason and strength, change their sinful hearts to such as are well-pleasing to God; AND THAT WHICH IS WANTING CANNOT BE NUMBERED, if it is missing, it cannot b... [ Continue Reading ]
I communed with mine own heart, in a careful contemplation or consideration of the difficulty presented, SAYING, LO, I AM COME TO GREAT ESTATE, being possessed of incalculable wealth, AND HAVE GOTTEN MORE WISDOM THAN ALL THEY THAT HAVE BEEN BEFORE ME IN JERUSALEM, for the Lord had conferred upon Sol... [ Continue Reading ]
And I gave my heart to know wisdom, on its positive side, AND TO KNOW MADNESS AND FOLLY, the error and foolishness of men, to estimate it properly; I PERCEIVED THAT THIS ALSO, namely, the activity of striving after such knowledge, IS VEXATION OF SPIRIT, a miserable and troublesome exertion.... [ Continue Reading ]
For in much wisdom is much grief, lack of knowledge or deliberate ignorance saving a person many a disagreeable meditation on the weakness and meanness of human nature; AND HE THAT INCREASETH KNOWLEDGE INCREASETH SORROW, for he will have an understanding of conditions as they actually exist, he will... [ Continue Reading ]