The previous series, I was experimenting with different writing styles. So with this new series, I’m going to try something new. I’m going to go through Ecclesiastes, one of my all time favorite books and also add in a fictious narrative from time to time, to help get some of the points across.
There are some in the Theological World that say there is no structure, or they basically cram all the words in a foreign structure. I might not be an expert, but I’m allowed an opinion here. Here is my best effort to synthesize and structure this most curious book of the Bible. I discovered it in 2013.
The Structure
Opening Song
1:1-11 Mourning over Adam’s fall
1:2-4 matches 12:1-2 “Nothing new, old toil… with many years of no Pleasure.”
1: 5-7 Light… Water… Land (Creation Language of Gen 1), matches 12:2
1:8-11, v.8 is the Idea, 9-11 is the explanation; matches 12:3-8
Round One: Cycle One
Hendiadys:1:13; Trailer: 1:12-18
Marker 1:13 It is an unhappy business that God has given the children of man to be busy with.
2:1-11= the death of lust of the flesh
2:12-17= death of lust of the eyes
2:18-23= death of pride of life
**2:24-26 Conclusion-fear God**
Round One: Cycle Two
Hendiadys: 3:10; Trailer 3:9-15
Marker 3:10 I have seen the business that God has given the children of man to be busy with, he has made everything beautiful in its time.
**Song of Time: 3:1-8 (comparable to the song in chapter 7:1-14)
A: hidden future 3:16-22
B: Oppression 4:1-3
C: Unity (Envy divides) be together, not apart 4:3-12
D: Justice an Advantage (a king forgotten like Joseph, Exod 1:8, is no advantage) Eccl 4:13-16
**X: Conclusion-Fear God 5:1-7 X: Fear God
D’: Justice: a king committed to fields/righteousness (sadeh and tsadekah are similar in sound) 5:8-9
C’: Unity, (Envy divides) be together 5:10-6:9
tale of two men: one gifted to joy (5:19) one not given power (6:2)
B’. Oppression 6:1-10, the second man in the tale is the oppressor
A’: hidden future 6:11-12
Song of Contrast: 7:1-14
Round Two: Cycle One
Hendiadys 7:15-18
Marker 7:15 In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.
Short Section of Proverbs written in a Narrative 7:16-23
Main point written in Poetry in two parts:
7:23-29 Wisdom is difficult, Keywords “snares and nets”
8:1-Joseph and Moses exemplified
Long Sections of Proverbs written in Narrative 8:2-11
**Conclusion: Fear God 8:12-13**
Round Two: Cycle Two
Hendiadys 8:14; Trailer 8:14-17
Marker 8:14 There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous.
Short Section of Proverbs written in Poetry 8:15-9:12
Main point written in Narrative in two parts
9:11-12 Life can’t be forecasted “Snares and nets”
9:13-16 Example of Wisdom, Joseph and Moses both preserved their people.
Long Section of Proverbs written in Poetry 9:17-11:10
Notice that there is no conclusion to fear God after the second cycle. That’s because the big conclusion of the entire book is Chapter 12.
Closing Song: 12:1-8
12:1 Creator (alluding to Gen 1); notice evil days similar to Eccl 1:2-4
12:2 the lights…water… land like Eccl 1: 5-7
12: 3-8 All things are full of weariness like Eccl 1: 8-11
Transition: 9-10
v9 preparing many proverbs
[prepares the reader for the coming book, Proverbs]
**Big Conclusion: 11-13 Fear God and keep his commandments**
The Tony Stark and Sherlock Holmes
of the Ancient World: Solomon
The Beauty and the Beast or La Belle et le Bête is a story of patient love overcoming a curse is a timeless classic. The beast is presented as larger than life and hosting extravagant parties for a nearby village in his enormous castle. Though cursed as a beast, he still lives in a large estate, with many servants, highly educated and very wealthy. How curious and shocking that a poor peasant girl would steal his heart?
His servants were kind to him the long years of being a beast and slowly helped curb his mean spirit, and readied his heart for her touch. Her kindness transformed his rugged selfishness into a selfless king that gave back to the nearby village.
I’m reminded of a tale that is like that is often misunderstood but talked about by many. A long time ago a very wealthy young man was impressive in wisdom, in wealth, and with shapely women and held the world in awe. So superlative was this young man that many historians and liberal scholars doubt the range and scale of his success and reign. He was a king over a once small and quiet people. He was a spectacle that the world from all places would come just to see him in his glory. They would listen to his wisdom, gaze at the large buildings he had constructed, walk within his garden and parks, and enjoy great musicals and feasts that he would host. His castle-palace was filled with lovely maidens, talented musicians, inventors, and every kind of delight.
But the man was lonely. Dark depression and intellectual frustration over the brevity of life soon crept in. Although power was his in the extreme, he was powerless to the fact that one day he would die and give his lot to another, and who knows if that man would a fool or not? Pleasure was fun, but what use was it for facing the challenges of death, the vapor-like state of life, and the overall pain in life. Like the beast, he soon hated all of life and burdened the people with more and more building projects. People were reduced to an audience to hear his wisdom. As a wealthy man, buyers were no longer human beings, but reduced to profits to be accumulated and maximized. As a strong man, people were simply to be used for gain. The crowds grew bigger, but he grew lonelier. His wealth waxed steadily on in size, increased in variety and the like, but his heart waned, and his heart grew dim. Enraged like his father, he grew more and more selfish like a beast.
Selfishness was eating away him as he denied the very God he once believed in, since wild and fetching vixens had dragged his heart away from the God he grew up with, to the gods the lusty women had. Salubrious and sunny days turned grey and taxing. Yet one unexpected day God graciously would bring in a single woman to change all that. One poor peasant girl would steal the heart of the great beast. Surely this tale is worth retelling too.
Who was this man? Some would call this man king and master. Others would call him a god. The workers called him a harsh taskmaster. The gentry would call him sage. His father David would call him Jedidiah, “beloved of Yahweh.” His mother Bathsheba would call him Lemuel, a baby name meaning “devoted to God.” His darling companion called him, “Beloved.” God himself called him the wisest man that ever lived. And we know him as, Solomon.
And with that introduction, stay tuned as we dive into the first song of Ecclesiastes!