Ecclesiastes

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Ecclesiastes ( ih-KLEE-zee-ASS-teez) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word קֹהֶלֶת (Kohelet, Koheleth, Qoheleth or Qohelet). An unnamed author introduces "The words of Kohelet, son of David, king in Jerusalem" (1:1) and does not use his own voice again until the final verses Ecclesiastes 12:9–14, where he gives his own thoughts and summarises the statements of Kohelet; the main body of the text is ascribed to Kohelet. Kohelet proclaims "Vanity of vanities! All is futile!" The Hebrew word hevel, 'vapor' or 'breath', can figuratively mean 'insubstantial', 'vain', 'futile', or 'meaningless'. In some versions, vanity is translated as 'meaningless' to avoid the confusion with the other definition of vanity. Given this, the next verse presents the basic existential question with which the rest of the book...

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