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Scott's Reference Library
Ecclesiastes 1:2,12-14; 2:18-23
Sunday Between July 31 and August 6 (Proper 13) C (First Reading) August 2, 1998
Eccles. 1:2
"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."
Eccles. 1:12-14
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. [13] I devoted myself to study and to
explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!
[14] I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless,
a chasing after the wind.
Eccles. 2:18-23
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the
one who comes after me. [19] And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he
will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the
sun. This too is meaningless. [20] So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor
under the sun. [21] For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then
he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless
and a great misfortune. [22] What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving
with which he labors under the sun? [23] All his days his work is pain and grief; even at
night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.
(NIV)
Eccles. 1:1-3 (Solomon shows that all human things are vain)
Much is to be learned by comparing one part of Scripture with another. We here behold Solomon returning from the broken and empty cisterns of the world, to the Fountain of living water; recording his own folly and shame, the bitterness of his disappointment, and the lessons he had learned. Those that have taken warning to turn and live, should warn others not to go on and die. He does not merely say all things are vain, but that they are vanity. VANITY OF VANITIES, ALL IS VANITY. This is the text of the preacher’s sermon, of which in this book he never loses sight. If this world, in its present state, were all, it would not be worth living for; and the wealth and pleasure of this world, if we had ever so much, are not enough to make us happy. What profit has a man of all his labour? All he gets by it will not supply the wants of the soul, nor satisfy its desires; will not atone for the sins of the soul, nor hinder the loss of it: what profit will the wealth of the world be to the soul in death, in judgment, or in the everlasting state?
Eccles. 1:12-18 (The vexation in pursuit of knowledge)
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.
Eccles. 2:18-26 (This world to be used according to the will of God)
Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from the creature; but Solomon came to this at length. The world is a vale of tears, even to those that have much of it. See what fools they are, who make themselves drudges to the world, which affords a man nothing better than subsistence for the body. And the utmost he can attain in this respect is to allow himself a sober, cheerful use thereof, according to his rank and condition. But we must enjoy good in our labour; we must use those things to make us diligent and cheerful in worldly business. And this is the gift of God. Riches are a blessing or a curse to a man, according as he has, or has not, a heart to make a good use of them. To those that are accepted of the Lord, he gives joy and satisfaction in the knowledge and love of him. But to the sinner he allots labour, sorrow, vanity, and vexation, in seeking a worldly portion, which yet afterwards comes into better hands. Let the sinner seriously consider his latter end. To seek a lasting portion in the love of Christ and the blessings it bestows, is the only way to true and satisfying enjoyment even of this present world.
(Matthew Henry Concise Commentary)