#hub #overview #oldtestament #Ecclesiastes
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# 📖 Ecclesiastes
> [!info] Info
> [[#📖 Summary of Book]]
> [[#📚 Genre]]
> [[#🙋♂️ Who is the Author]]
> [[#⌛️ When Was it Written]]
> [[#🧭 Theme Verse]]
> [[#🧭 Major Themes]]
> [[#📅 Outline of Book]]
> **[[#✍️ Chapter-by-Chapter Notes]]**
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflections]]
> [[#📚 Further Study / Interesting Insights]]
## 📖 Summary of Book
> The Book of Ecclesiastes reflects on the meaning of life and the pursuit of fulfillment in a fallen world. Through honest observation, the Teacher examines pleasure, work, wisdom, and wealth and finds them ultimately empty apart from God. The book confronts the reality of death, injustice, and uncertainty with realism and humility. It concludes that true purpose is found in fearing God and obeying His commands.
#### 📚 Genre
- Wisdom Literature
- Philosophical Poetry
#### 🙋♂️ Who is the Author
- Traditionally Solomon (identified as “the Teacher” or “Qoheleth”)
- Possibly toward the end of his life as he returns to God.
#### ⌛️ When Was it Written
- Approximately 950–900 BC (traditional Solomonic view; some scholars suggest later)
## 🧭 Theme Verse
>Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NET)
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
## 🧭 Major Themes
• The vanity of earthly pursuits
• The fear of God
• The limits of human wisdom
• The certainty of death
• Life’s unpredictability
• Contentment
• Enjoying God’s gifts
• Justice and injustice
• Time and seasons
• Eternal perspective
## 📅 Outline of Book
- 1:1–2:26 — The Search for Meaning
- Pleasure, work, and wisdom tested
- Dissatisfaction apart from God
- 3:1–5:20 — God’s Order and Human Limits
- A time for everything
- Reverence in worship
- The problem of wealth
- 6:1–8:17 — Life’s Frustrations
- Unfulfilled desires
- Injustice and mystery
- Submission to God’s rule
- 9:1–11:6 — Living Wisely in an Uncertain World
- The reality of death
- Courage and diligence
- 11:7–12:14 — Remembering God
- Youth and aging
- Final judgment
## ✍️ Chapter-by-Chapter Notes
- [[Ecclesiastes 01]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 02]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 03]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 04]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 05]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 06]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 07]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 08]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 09]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 10]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 11]]
- [[Ecclesiastes 12]]
## 🙏 Devotional Reflections
-
## 📚 Further Study / Interesting Insights
**Further Study**.
1. Tremper Longman III, The Book of Ecclesiastes (NICOT)
2. Derek Kidner, The Message of Ecclesiastes (BST)
3. Craig G. Bartholomew, Ecclesiastes (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms)
**Interesting Insights**.
1. The Hebrew word “vanity” (hevel) means “vapor” or “breath.”
2. The phrase “under the sun” appears nearly 30 times.
3. Ecclesiastes is one of the most quoted OT books in philosophy.
4. Chapter 3’s “time for everything” passage is widely known.
5. The book wrestles honestly with doubt and frustration.
6. It affirms joy alongside realism.
7. Ecclesiastes is read during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.
8. The Teacher experiments with extreme wealth and pleasure.
9. The book balances skepticism with faith.
10. Its conclusion resolves the book’s tensions.
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