Ecclesiastes 1:12

I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. Resumption of Ecclesiastes 1:1, the intermediate verses being the introductory statement of his thesis. Therefore, the Preacher ( Qohelet (H6953)) is repeated. From this verse to Ecclesiastes 2:26, the Preacher shows the vanity of earthly things from his own experience. I THE PREACHER WAS KING - instead of 'am,' because he is about to give the results of his past experience during his long reign. IN JERUSALEM - specified as opposed to David, who reigned both in Hebron and Jerusalem; whereas Solomon reigned only in Jerusalem. "King of Israel in Jerusalem" implies that he reigned over Is...

12-18 Solomon tried all things, and found them vanity. He found his searches after knowledge weariness, not only to the flesh, but to the mind. The more he saw of the works done under the sun, the more he saw their vanity; and the sight often vexed his spirit. He could neither gain that satisfaction to himself, nor do that good to others, which he expected. Even the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom discovered man's wickedness and misery; so that the more he knew, the more he saw cause to lament and mourn. Let us learn to hate and fear sin, the cause of all this vanity and misery; to value Christ; to seek rest in the knowledge, love, and service of the Saviour....

Verse Ecclesiastes 1:12. _I THE PREACHER WAS KING_] This is a strange verse, and does not admit of an easy solution. It is literally, "I, Choheleth, have been king over Israel, in Jerusalem." This book, as we have already seen, has been conjectured by some to have been written about the time that _Ptolemy Philadelphus_ formed his great library at Alexandria, about _two hundred and eighty-five_ years before our Lard; and from the multitude of Jews that dwelt there, and resorted to that city for the sake of commerce, it was said there was an _Israel in Alexandria_. See the _introduction_. Ecclesiastes 1:1. It has also been conjectured from this, that if the book were written by _Solomon_, it was intended to be a _posthumous_ publication

Solomon relates his personal experience Ecclesiastes 2; the result of which was “no profit,” and a conviction that all, even God’s gifts of earthly good to good men, in this life are subject to vanity. His trial of God’s first gift, wisdom, is recounted in Ecclesiastes 1:12. WAS - This tense does not imply that Solomon had ceased to be king when the word was written. See the introduction to Ecclesiastes. He begins with the time of his accession to the throne, when the gifts of wisdom and riches were especially promised to him 1 Kings 3:12....

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 1:1 THE TITLE. THE WORDS OF THE PREACHER, THE SON OF DAVID, KING IN JERUSALEM; Septuagint, "King of Israel in Jerusalem" (comp.Ecclesiastes 1:12). The word rendered "Preacher" is _Koheleth_,_ _a feminine noun formed from a verb _kalal_,_ _"to call" (see Introduction, § 1), and perhaps better rendered" Convener" or "Debater." It is found nowhere else but in this book, where it occurs three times in this chapter (Ecclesiastes 1:1, Ecclesiastes 1:2,...

I THE PREACHER WAS KING OVER ISRAEL IN JERUSALEM. Solomon having given a general proof of the vanity of all things here below, and of the insufficiency of them to make men happy, proceeds to particular instances, and begins with human wisdom and knowledge, which of all things might be thought to be most conducive to true happiness; and yet it falls short of it: he instances in himself for proof of it; and he could not have pitched on anyone more proper and pertinent to the purpose, who had all the advantages of obtaining wisdom, was assiduous in his pursuit of it, and made a proficiency in it above all mankind; wherefore he must be owned to be a proper judge, and whatever is concluded by him may be taken for granted as certain; and this is the sum of the following verses to the end of the chapter. Now let it be observed, that he was a "preacher", not a private person, and must have a goo...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS PART I. Chapter S 1-6 1. The Prologue and the Search Begun CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction and prologue (Ecclesiastes 1:1)_ 2. The seeker; his method and the results (Ecclesiastes 1:12) Ecclesiastes 1:1. In the general introduction we have already referred to the opening verses as giving the information who the author is and what is the object of his treatise. So sure is the critical school that Solomon is not the king mentioned that one says “the fact that Solomon is not the author, but is introduced in a literary figure, has become such an axiom of the present day interpretation of the book, that no extended argument to prove

ECCLESIASTES 1:12 TO ECCLESIASTES 2:26. QOHELETH'S INVESTIGATIONS. Assuming the character of Solomon the writer tells of his search for happiness under many forms. The pursuit of wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:12), absorption in pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:1), the study of human nature (Ecclesiastes 2:12), the acquisition of wealth (Ecclesiastes 2:18), alike fail to yield satisfaction. After all his experience the only

I. Solomon knew that the kingdom was to be rent (1 Kings 11:11; 1 Kings 11:12) and the People scattered; therefore he sought to kill Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:39). The Chaldee Targum says, on Ecclesiastes 1:1, "These are the words of the _prophecy_ which Koheleth delivered when Solomon foresaw, by the _Spirit of prophecy,_ that the kingdom of Rehoboam his son would be divided by Jeroboam the son of Nebat". WAS. came to be. OVER ISRAEL. Solomon was the only king of which this was wholly true....

_I the Preacher was king over Israel_ Better, " I … HAVE BEEN king." It would, perhaps, be too much to say that this mode of introducing himself, is so artificial as to exclude, as some have thought, the authorship of the historical Solomon. Louis XIV."s way of speaking of himself "_Quand ĵ etois roi_" may well have had its parallel, as Mr Bullock suggests in the _Speaker's Commentary_, in the old age of another king weary of the trappings and the garb of Majesty. As little, however, can they be held to prove that authorship. A writer aiming at a dramatic impersonation of his idea of Solomon would naturally adopt some such form as this and might, perhaps, adopt it in order to indicate that it was an impersonation. The manner in which the son of David appears in Wis 7:1-15 presents at once a parallel and a contrast....