Ecclesiastes << ih `klee` zee AS teez >> is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The meaning of its name in Hebrew, Qohelet, is unclear. It may be related to a Hebrew word for assembly, which was translated into Ekklesiastes, or assembly man, in Greek. In some English Bibles, the title is translated as Preacher.
The book is a collection of proverbs set within the narrator’s life story. Many of its ideas are unique in Biblical thought. For example, Ecclesiastes expresses pessimism about the value of human existence. The narrator is troubled by injustice in the world and by the fact that the meaning of life is hidden from people. The book urges people to enjoy the pleasures of life. But one should not make pleasure the goal of living because, in the end, life is empty, or the “vanity of vanities.” Ecclesiastes ends with a moving chapter about the narrator’s approaching death.
Ecclesiastes is one of the wisdom books of the Bible—that is, books that give instruction for living. According to tradition, the author is Solomon, the Israelite king famous for his wisdom (see Solomon). However, the style and language indicate that the book was written in the 400’s or 300’s B.C., much later than Solomon’s reign.
