Thursday 23 September 2010
- Bible Book:
- Ecclesiastes
"Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? ... What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun." (v.2, 9)
Background
Ecclesiastes is one of the most enigmatic books among OldTestament wisdom literature. Dated to around 250 BC, it shows theinfluence of Hellenistic (Greek culture-inspired) philosophy and isamong the later books of those included in the Hebrew biblicalcanon (collection of books).
The unknown author of Ecclesiastes identifies the narrator of thetext in Hebrew as Qohelet, translated into English in modernversions of the Bible as "the Teacher". The author also claimsroyal association for the narrator, saying he is 'the son ofDavid', though the language of the text is far later than thatperiod. It is as if the author is looking back five or six hundredyears into the royal history of his faith and writing the secretthoughts of Solomon for contemporary students.
Today's passage is all about the futility of human action andeffort. The word translated here as 'vanity' (in Hebrew - hebel)has deeper meaning than the English word suggests. It has beentranslated as 'emptiness' (New English Bible), 'futility' (RevisedEnglish Bible), and 'meaningless' (New International Bible). Thebest sense of what it means is something like meaninglessness orweightlessness, with a root meaning of vapour or breathpassing.
However it is translated, the teacher intends to scare readers andshock them away from any sense that what we do in human history hasany lasting value or effect.
This is a hard teaching. Saying "there is nothing new under thesun" the teacher expresses a despairing listlessness that somemodern readers might diagnose as characteristic of depression. Itis ironic that this verse has entered UK English idiom to showsurprise when something we thought was unique turns out to havehistorical precedent - often the one who uses this idiom means tocaution against pride, but sometimes to express happiness at notbeing alone in some action or thought. At the very least, its usageshows a sense of solidarity in the human condition. The interestingquestion for readers and the teacher himself will be, 'If this isso, how do we respond?'
To Ponder
Do you think of humanity as part of the historyof the natural world whose cycles are described in this passage, ordo you think of humanity as having a unique place in creation?Why?
How does reading this passage make you feel?
Do you recognise here thoughts or feelings thatyou have had yourself, in response to life?