"Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher (Qohelet), all is vanity."

Job. Lamentations. And, Ecclesiastes. Such depressing books of the Bible! (But life is like that, isn't it?) The Teacher says it's all like chasing after wind ("vanity of vanities" refers to vapor or a breath, a phrase he applies 38 times to different experiences of life). You can spend lots of effort -- physical, mental, and emotional -- but in the end, you come up empty-handed he says. So why bother?

The title "Ecclesiastes" comes from the Greek transation of the Hebrew Qohelet, which in turn is derived from the word qahal which means to assemble, or to gather. So the Qohelet is the leader of the assembly. That's why he's sometimes called the Preacher. The idea of this author being a Teacher comes from verse 12:9, "Qohelet also taught the people..." There's little doubt that Solomon did NOT write this book, which probably appeared around 300 B.C.

Qohelet's observations are all "under the sun," i.e., he thinks only in the framework of this earthly existence. When bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people, where is God? He lived in a time when a full orbed belief in the afterlife, or heaven, or eternal life, did not yet exist in Hebrew thought. Without such a belief in the final justice of God, you can see how he gets so cynical. He questions the assumptions of Proverbs that the righteous are rewarded by health, wealth, and happiness in this life and sinners are punished by illness, poverty, and early death. To raise a modern question, what about 9/11? The righteous died, the sinners still live. Where is God's justice? The grave is the destiny of all. No matter how hard you work and how much you accumulate, it all passes into your children's hands, who may themselves be fools! No matter what you do, they'll forget your name in no time after you're gone. So why bother?

There's much truth in what he says. Though this is certainly not a PROOF of an afterlife, it shows the importance of belief in the final justice of God.