Difference between revisions of "Ecclesiastes"

<p> '''Ecclesiastes''' (''ek-klç'si-'' ''ăs-t'' ''çs'' ), ''the preacher.'' It is the seventh book after the Psalms in the Hebrew [[Scriptures]] (but the second after the Psalms in the [[A.]] [[V.),]] and its title in Hebrew is ''Koheleth,'' signifying one who convenes a public assembly. ''Koheleth,'' the name assumed by the author, claims to be "son of David, King in Jerusalem." The book teaches that to obey God is the highest good. It is the confession of a man of wide experience, looking back upon his past life and looking out upon the disorders and calamities which surround him. The writer is a man who has sinned in giving way to selfishness and sensuality, who has suffered for his sin in satiety and weariness of life, but who has through all this been under the discipline of a divine education, and has learned from it the lesson which God meant to teach him. </p>

<p> '''Ecclesias'tes.''' ''(the preacher).'' The title of this book is in Hebrew, '''Koheleth''' , signifying ''one who speaks publicly in an assembly.'' '''Koheleth''' is the name by which Solomon, probably the author, speaks of himself throughout the book. The book is that which it professes to be, - the confession of a man of wide experience looking back upon his past life and looking out upon the disorders and calamities which surround him. </p> <p> The writer is a man who has sinned in giving way to selfishness and sensuality, who has paid the penalty of that sin in satiety and weariness of life, but who has, through all this, been under the discipline of a divine education, and has learned from it the lesson which God meant to teach him. </p>