{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-4035","native_reference":{"book_number":250,"chapter_from":1,"chapter_to":1,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":1,"verse_to":1},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Didymus the Blind</b>: Solomon, who here appears as Ecclesiastes, that is, who preaches what is appropriate for the church, is the son of David. He came after Saul, whose rule was destroyed and terminated. Solomon is son of this king David in two ways.… The first is according to nature and lineage; the second is according to his teaching. One has to understand Paul in this [second] way when he says, \"For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.\" David thus was Solomon's father in both respects: according to nature—Solomon was his heir and \"David begot Solomon\"—but he was also his father in terms of instruction. David was wise as only few are—especially wise regarding God.…But Solomon also became wise in a way that few achieve: he became wise through the wisdom [he received] and through his human lineage. According to both ways Solomon thus was the son of David.<br/>But especially in terms of his words as Ecclesiastes is he the son of David, not so much according to nature as according to instruction. For the sons of the wise beget wise people, since they are wise themselves. But someone who is father of a son according to nature does not necessarily become a father again. Many were sons and did not become fathers. The sons according to the Spirit, however, become fathers themselves.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 5:2</i></p><p><b>Didymus the Blind</b>: Question: [Are the] words of Ecclesiastes said by the author personally?Answer: Actually the Spirit is the author of the divinely inspired Scriptures. The Spirit inspires so that words are expressed, but the wise man is also involved. For the Spirit has not himself invisibly written the letter and put down the text, but he breathes it into the soul. Either the real author is Solomon, or some [other] wise men have written it. Maybe we should opt for the latter so that nobody may say that the speaker talks about himself.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 7:9</i></p><p><b>Evagrius Ponticus</b>: The church is [the assembly] of pure souls. It is the true knowledge of the ages and worlds and about their judgment and provision. Ecclesiastes is Christ, the author of that knowledge. Or, Ecclesiastes is one who, having purified the soul by moral contemplation, leads his or her soul to the contemplation of the physical [world].<br/><i>— SCHOLIA ON Ecclesiastes 1:1.1</i></p><p><b>Gregory of Neocaesarea</b>: These words speaks Solomon, the son of David the king and prophet, to the whole Church of God, a prince most honoured, and a prophet most wise above all men. How vain and fruitless are the affairs of men, and all pursuits that occupy man! For there is not one who can tell of any profit attaching to those things which men who creep on earth strive by body and soul to attain to, in servitude all the while to what is transient, and undesirous of considering anything heavenly with the noble eye of the soul. And the life of men wears away, as day by day, and in the periods of hours and years, and the determinate courses of the sun, some are ever coming, and others passing away. And the matter is like the transit of torrents as they fall into the measureless deep of the sea with a mighty noise. And all things that have been constituted by God for the sake of men abide the same: as, for instance, I that man is born of earth, and departs to earth again; that the earth itself continues stable; that the sun accomplishes its circuit about it perfectly, and rolls round to the same mark again; and that the winds in like manner, and the mighty rivers which flow into the sea, and the breezes that beat upon it, all act without forcing it to pass beyond its limits, and without themselves also violating their appointed laws. And these things, indeed, as bearing upon the good of this life of ours, are established thus fittingly. But those things which are of men's devising, whether words or deeds, have no measure. And there is a plenteous multitude of words, but there is no profit from random and foolish talking. But the race of men is naturally insatiate in its thirst both for speaking and for hearing what is spoken; and it is man's habit, too, to desire to look with idle eyes on all that happens. What can occur afterwards, or what can be wrought by men which has not been done already? What new thing is there worthy of mention, of which there has never yet been experience? For I think there is nothing which one may call new, or which, on considering it, one shall discover to be strange or unknown to those of old. But as former things are buried in oblivion, so also things that are now subsistent will in the course of time vanish utterly from the knowledge of those who shall come after us. And I speak not these things unadvisedly, as acting now the preacher. But all these things were carefully pondered by me when entrusted with the kingdom of the Hebrews in Jerusalem. And I examined diligently, and considered discreetly, the nature of all that is on earth, and I perceived it to be most various; and I saw that to man it is given to labour upon earth, ever carried about by all different occasions of toil, and with no result of his work. And all things here below are full of the spirit of strangeness and abomination, so that it is not possible for one to retrieve them now; nay, rather it is not possible for one at all to conceive what utter vanity has taken possession of all human affairs. For once. on a time I communed with myself, and thought that then I was wiser in this than all that were before me, and I was expert in understanding parables and the natures of things. But I learned that I gave myself to such pursuits to no purpose, and that if wisdom follows knowledge, so troubles attend on wisdom.<br/><i>— A Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes</i></p><p><b>Gregory of Nyssa</b>: Before us for exposition lies Ecclesiastes, which requires labor in spiritual interpretation quite as great as the benefit to be obtained. The thoughts of Proverbs [have] already prepared the mind by exercise.… Then for those who have developed to the more advanced stages of learning there comes the ascent toward this truly sublime and Godinspired work of Scripture [i.e., the book of Ecclesiastes]. If then the exercise in expressions [from the book of Proverbs] which prepares us for these lessons is so painful and difficult to understand, how great an effort must be envisaged in these lofty thoughts which now lie before us for interpretation?… Nevertheless, since it is also one of the Master's commands that we must search the Scriptures, there is an absolute necessity, even if our mind falls short of the truth, failing to match the greatness of the ideas, that we should still ensure by all the zeal for the Word of which we are capable that we do not appear to disregard the Lord's command. Let us therefore search the Scripture lying before us to the best of our ability. For surely he who has given the command to search the Scriptures will also give us the ability to do so, as it is written, \"The Lord will give a word to those who preach good news with great power.\"</p><p><b>Gregory of Nyssa</b>: Now the teaching of this book looks exclusively to the conduct of the church and gives instruction in those things by which one would achieve the life of virtue. For the object of what is said here is to raise the mind above sensation, to persuade it to abandon all that seems to be great and splendid in the world of existence, to catch a glimpse through the eyes of the soul of those things which are unattainable by sense perception, and to conceive a desire for those things to which sense does not attain. Perhaps the title of the book also envisages the one who leads the church (ekkl&#;sia). For the true Ecclesiast [is] he who collects into one body what has been scattered and assembles (ekkl&#;siazon) into one whole those who have been led astray in many ways by various deceits. Who else would he be but the true King of Israel, the Son of God, to whom Nathanael said, \"You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel\"? If therefore these are words of the King of Israel, and this same one is also the Son of God, as the gospel says, then the same one is called Ecclesiast (Assembler). Perhaps we may not unreasonably give this sense to the expression used in the title, so that we may learn by this that the meaning of these words has reference to him who established the church forever through the gospel message. Words, it says, of the Ecclesiast, the Son of David. And Matthew so names him at the beginning of his gospel, calling the Lord \"Son of David.\"</p><p><b>Gregory of Nyssa</b>: [The book of] Ecclesiastes is offered for our examination because it is especially useful and valuable for contemplation. When [the book of] Proverbs has exercised our minds by its obscure words, wise sayings, riddles and various twists of words as contained in the introduction, we find an ascent for those persons who have advanced to more perfect lessons with regard to this lofty, divinely inspired book. If a toilsome, arduous meditation on Proverbs prepares us for these lessons, how much more laborious and difficult must it be to now examine such sublime matters proposed for our contemplation!… Since one of the divine precepts bids us to search the Scriptures, it is indeed necessary that once our minds have pursued the truth even though we failed to attain the nobility of its thoughts, we are not perceived as despising the Lord's command in our effort to discharge our duty worthily. Therefore let us examine the Scripture before us as best we can, for he [God] who has bidden us to search will bestow the power [to preach]. As it is written, \"The Lord will give a word to those who preach it with much power.\"<br/><i>— HOMILIES ON Ecclesiastes 1</i></p><p><b>Gregory of Nyssa</b>: The teaching of Ecclesiastes pertains only to suitable behavior in the church, that is, how to direct a person in virtue. This book aims to elevate our minds above the senses, to abandon great, brilliant and noble appearances, to transcend the senses and to attain what transcends them.Perhaps this inscription refers to the leader of the church [ekklēsia]. The true Ecclesiastes [ekklēsiastes, Christ] gathers into one assembly those persons who often have been scattered and frequently deceived. Who could he be except the true king of Israel to whom Nathaniel said, \"You are the son of God and the king of Israel\"? If these words pertain to the king of Israel, the Son of God, as the Gospel says, then he is called Ecclesiastes. We will not deviate from the inscription's meaning provided that we learn about him who firmly establishes the church through the Gospel and to whom these words apply. \"The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David\": thus Matthew begins his gospel with the name David and calls him Lord.<br/><i>— HOMILIES ON Ecclesiastes 1</i></p><p><b>Jerome</b>: Solomon is here given the Greek name Ecclesiastes [Heb Qōhelet], for he gathers the assembly [qāhāl], that is, the church. But we can call him the Preacher because he speaks to the people and his word is directed not only to one person but to everyone.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON Ecclesiastes 1:1</i></p><p><b>Jerome</b>: \"The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King in Jerusalem.\" The<br/>Scriptures state very clearly that Solomon was known by three names: 'Peace-making', that is 'Solomon'; 'Yedidia',<br/>that is 'beloved of Yahweh'; and the name used here 'Qoheleth', that is<br/>Ecclesiastes. He is called Ecclesiastes<br/>in Greek because he gathered together a crowd of people, \"a congregation\", which we can call a demagogue because he spoke to<br/>the people and his sermon was not addressed specifically to one man but more<br/>usually to all men. Moreover he is<br/>called 'peace-making' and 'beloved of Yahweh' because there was peace during<br/>his reign and the Lord loved him. For<br/>also Psalms 44, and 71, are known by titles connected with love and<br/>peace-making. Although these psalms<br/>pertain to Christ and the Church they exhibit Solomon's joy and strength, and<br/>according to tradition were composed concerning Solomon.</p><p>He also produced an equal number of titles to the three volumes: \"Proverbs\", \"Ecclesiastes\", and \"Song of<br/>Songs\". He teaches for children in \"Proverbs\" and gives instruction in the<br/>form of maxims almost with a sense of duty, and his sermons here are repeated<br/>continually to his son. In \"Ecclesiastes\" he teaches a man of mature<br/>age that he should not think anything in the world to be perpetual, but that<br/>all things that we perceive are in fact vain and fleeting. In \"Song<br/>of Songs\" he embraces an elderly man in the covenant, who has already been<br/>prepared in spurning his times. For<br/>unless we first abandon our moral failings and renounce the pomposity of our<br/>world, and prepare ourselves so we are ready for the arrival of Christ, we will<br/>not be able to say: \"let him kiss<br/>me from the kiss of his mouth\" [Cant. 1,1.]. Philosophers educate their followers in a<br/>manner similar to this type of instruction: first of all they teach ethics,<br/>then explain physics, and then anyone whom they see to excel in these first two<br/>they then go on to teach theology. <br/>Moreover even this should be examined more closely because Solomon is<br/>named differently in the three books. In<br/>\"Proverbs\" for example he is thus<br/>named: \"The Proverbs of Solomon, the son<br/>of David, King of Israel.\" [Prov. 1,1.] But in Ecclesiastes: \"The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King of Jerusalem. \"'Israel'<br/>in fact is unnecessary here because it is not found in the Greek or Latin<br/>manuscripts. But in \"Song of Songs\" he is neither named 'son of David', not 'King of<br/>Israel' or 'King of Jerusalem', but only as \"The<br/>Song of Songs of Solomon\". This is<br/>just as the Proverbs and the crude arrangement pertain to the twelve tribes and<br/>to the whole of Israel. And although the<br/>contempt of the world only comes to city-dwellers, these are the inhabitants of<br/>Jerusalem, therefore Solomon intends \"Song<br/>of Songs\" particularly for those who desire spiritual enlightenment. To those readers just embarking on their<br/>education paternal honour and the authority of the king are claimed in their<br/>own merit, but to those who have completed their learning, and in the case<br/>where the disciple has been enlightened not by fear, but by love, his own name<br/>suffices. Then, he is equal to his<br/>teacher and he is unaware that he is a king. <br/>This is the case here. But in a<br/>more spiritual understanding Solomon was peace making and beloved of the Lord<br/>God, and Ecclesiastes can be seen as our Christ too, who destroying the inner<br/>wall and expelling evil from his flesh, makes each of them one, saying -<br/>\"I give you my peace, I relinquish my peace to you\" [John 14, 27.],<br/>about which the Lord says to his disciples \"This is my chosen son whom I<br/>love: listen to him\" [Matt. 3, 17.],<br/>and that is he who is father of the Church. <br/>Speaking by no means to the Synagogue of the Jews but to the crowd of<br/>people the King of Jerusalem (that which was built out of the living rocks, not<br/>that about which he says \"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill<br/>prophets\" [Matth. 23, 37.],<br/>and \"Look, let your empty house be left for us\" [Matth. 23, 38.]),<br/>but that by which it is forbidden to swear because it is the city of a great<br/>king. This is the son of David, to whom<br/>the blind cried out in the Gospel: \"pity us, son of David\"; and the<br/>whole crowd sang out in unison: \"Hosanna to the son of David\". Then there is the fact that the word of God<br/>does not come to him as is the case with Jeremiah and the other prophets, but<br/>on account of his being rich, being a king, holding power, his wisdom and his<br/>other virtues, he speaks to the men of the church himself, and he speaks words<br/>to the apostles about which Psalms 18.5 tells us: \"their sound went out to<br/>the whole world and their words went to the ends of the earth\". Some scholars think wrongly, therefore, that<br/>we are tempted into desire and luxury by this book, when it teaches quite to<br/>the contrary: everything we perceive in the world is vain; nor is it fitting<br/>for us to seek those things eagerly which perish while we possess them.<br/><i>— Commentary on Ecclesiastes</i></p><p><b>Origen of Alexandria</b>: why is it that Solomon, who in these three little books seems to comply with the will of the Holy Spirit, is in Proverbs indeed called \"Solomon the son of David, who reigned in Israel\"; whereas in the second book he is not written down as Solomon, but it says, \"the words of the Preacher (Ecclesiastes), the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem\" … That in very many places Solomon bears the type of Christ … And again he is himself the true Ecclesiastes, who, when he was in the form of God, emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, that he might gather together the Church … Therefore in the first book, that of Proverbs, when he instructs us in moral disciplines, he is said to be king in Israel, but not yet in Jerusalem … then already Christ himself becomes for us also Ecclesiastes, and is said to reign not only in Israel, but also in Jerusalem.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PROLOGUE</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"19e7e9cc66759b5476f563632a1e0e96f85ee1d825f1a23292ac9a72311b950c","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":4035,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"52f50efe55f3478e05b21a0c220b46476b940cc6e175ff928eb5590855ad0584","translator":null,"work":null}