Written and compiled by Gary Kukis

This page was updated March 25, 2020.

Text, Links, etc. have not been completed because I have not yet completed this book.

So far, only Ecclesiastes 1–2 have been completed and much of the introduction has been written. This is an ongoing work. I am in the midst of working on chapter 3.

Each chapter hyperlinked below will have the complete word-by-word exegesis of the chapter in the original Hebrew. Thorough examination and discussion of each verse will be found, with the input of 100 translators and 50 commentators.

Summary of the chapters posted found below:

Additional links also found below:

The documents directly above ⇑ will open on your computer in WordPerfect or in Word.

Some of these can only be found in their most up-to-date form as zip documents (right now, my website will not allow me to upload wpd docs, so I have to zip them).

Summary of the Chapters, posted when uploaded

Chapters 4–12 are not begun yet; but they will be completed at a later date.

Ecclesiastes Introduction (HTML) (PDF) (WPD—zipped).

Ecclesiastes is a unique book in the Bible, and people over the years have questioned its point of view, as, many times in this book, there are strikingly non-doctrinal statements made. Eccles. 9:2 comes to mind: All share a common destiny--the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. Or Eccles. 3:19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. (NIV) The humanist and the atheist might read these statements and think, that’s alright; maybe the Bible is right now and again! But for the Christian, these statements are quite another thing. Even the casual reader of Ecclesiastes, if he is a Christian, is going to come upon passages which don’t fit in with the rest of the Bible. However, all of this can be easily explained.

The key that might help to unlock the book of Solomon is Through Solomon’s Eyes, originally written in Eccles. 2, but it has much wider application.

We studied a few things in 1Kings 9 which, by themselves, do not mean much, but taken together, suggest that Solomon is veering away from God’s plan. However, when we come to 1Kings 11, there is no question that Solomon has become the proverbial prodigal son. [Solomon] had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD... (1Kings 11:3–9a; ESV; capitalized)

There is no other book like Ecclesiastes in the Bible; and this may be the book which opens the door for some of your unbelieving friends.

At this point, very incomplete, missing most of the links in the table of contents.

Ecclesiastes 1 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD—zipped). All is Vanity Under the Sun

Ecclesiastes 1 begins with the author of the book, its title and its theme (as well as a preliminary conclusion). Solomon, at some stage in his life, began to move away from God’s guidance and God’s wisdom. We saw clues of Solomon’s departure from divine viewpoint in 1Kings 9; but this defection from the truth becomes much more apparent in the first 10 verses of 1Kings 11. The book of Ecclesiastes does not reference anything in Kings; we simply review these passages in Kings to understand how a man of Solomon’s great wisdom can go so far afield.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon essentially tries to find happiness and contentment in the ecumenical world that he had established in his households, seeing that his wives and mistresses worshiped a plethora of gods. Surely, he thinks, we are all rational human beings; is there not a set of beliefs which we can all understand and to which we might all subscribe?

Ecclesiastes 1 (or the Preacher) (a graphic); from the 1611 King James Bible; accessed June 17, 2018.

We already know that Solomon was a pretty smart guy. His wisdom is testified to 1Kings 3:5–14 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) 4:29–31 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) and exemplified in his writing of the book of Proverbs. See Proverbs Links (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) (Folder). But let’s say that you take a man of Solomon’s caliber and allow him to pursue the knowledge and philosophies of this world; and to seek happiness in what the world provides. What would be the result? That is the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon had the desire as well as the means to seek happiness and wisdom right here on earth. If that can be done, then, why not? Why not allow every man to reach his full potential in this life? So Solomon made a serious search for the most modern solutions (of his era) and not be bound by the God of those shepherds so many centuries ago.

In Ecclesiastes 1, Solomon begins by making a few simple observations to which every man of his era could agree. This is his kicking off point, which will, he hopes, lead him to some universal truths, concerning which, every man could also agree. Generations come and go, but the earth is forever; the sun rises every morning, and sets every evening; the winds blow, one day from this direction, the next day from that; and the rivers run into the ocean, but the ocean never fills up. Now, strictly speaking, the Christian or the scientist might quibble with aspects of Solomon’s postulates, but the exegete is not bound to force an agreement between Solomon’s statements here and the Bible elsewhere, because Solomon presents his findings and conclusions as a man under the sun. In fact, Solomon is forced to conclude on many occasions that everything is just a breath of breaths; it is all empty, translucent and transitory. So we are not forced to agree with Solomon at every juncture; we simply accompany him on his journey to find truth and contentment on this earth.

His first experiment is recorded in the second half of Ecclesiastes 1, where Solomon is not simply wise, but he is able to pursue wisdom as no man had done before. No doubt, Solomon had one of the most marvelous libraries of the ancient world; and we might ask, just how many wise men did he invite to his kingdom so that he might pick their brains? But, in the end, he concludes, I have spoken to my heart saying, “Look, I have acquired greater wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My mind has seen great wisdom and knowledge.” So I applied my heart to know wisdom and also madness and folly. I came to understand that this also was an attempt to shepherd the wind. For in the abundance of wisdom there is much frustration, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. (Eccles. 1:16–18; ULLB)

This is a wonderful start for a fascinating book. Complete at 323 pages.

There is a key to Solomon’s reasoning and the conclusions which he draws (which conclusions theologians have struggled with for centuries). One of the early doctrines of this chapter is Through Solomon’s Eyes; and this introductory doctrine will clear up a great many problems of interpretation.

Solomon began his great experiments in search of happiness in Ecclesiastes 1 and continues them into the second chapter. He tries pleasures of various kinds, building, and the accumulation of possessions. None of these approaches offer Solomon any happiness or contentment.

In fact, his lack of contentment so disturbs him that he begins to consider his most fundamental point: wisdom vs. foolishness; surely wisdom is better. However, now at this point in Solomon’s life, even he is not certain of that axiomatic position. He believes himself to be wise, but is that really an advantage, he asks. After all, the wise man and the fool will both die; and, at some point, they will both be forgotten, as if they never lived.

Furthermore, Solomon realizes that, no matter how much he produces in this life, he will leave it all to a man (his successor) who may be lazy and worthless. Several times in this chapter, Solomon concludes his life to be empty and chasing after wind.

Topics which naturally arise from the material include: happiness through the accumulation of things; whether short-term stimulation be perpetuated into long-term contentment; the enjoyment of common earthly pleasures and how there is no lasting happiness to be found here; and the simple pleasures to come from the hand of God. We discuss pleasures and endeavors found today that Solomon was unable to tap into (such as, pot, CD’s, movies and iphones); and if indulging in those things bring any sort of lasting happiness. We discuss pleasure and the Christian way of life. We see how, through the study of Solomon and David’s marriages, how these foreshadow the welfare mother of today. We examine the lousy job that both David and Solomon did in raising their own sons. If fact, Solomon is so disappointed with his own sons that he is angry that one of them will inherit all that he has.

We study a variety of topics in this chapter: contemporary spiritual teachers trying to be too contemporary or too cool; the faithfulness of the pastor with a small congregation; the fact that we will, at some point, interact with God’s justice, whether Jesus is our Savior or our Judge; crude comedians; the unhappiness found in the United States of America (which is the greatest and most blessed nation in human history); the pursuit of one’s vocational passion in life; modern-day building projects; consumerism today; comparing our wealth today to Solomon; the frantic search for happiness; attempting to manage our happiness with psychotropic drugs; the potential contentment of the contemporary believer in Jesus Christ; your work today and your legacy; and the minimal requirements for the believer today.

Ecclesiastes—the Meaning of Life (a graphic); from Prettygate Baptist Church; accessed September 7, 2018.

Ecclesiastes 2 was written 3000 years ago. It could not be more up-to-date. Complete at 408 pages.

Ecclesiastes 3 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

So far, the basic exegesis has been done, the translations added, and a lot of commentary has been added.

Eccles. 4 and below not done yet

Ecclesiastes 4 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 5 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 6 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 7 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 8 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 9 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 10 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 11 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ecclesiastes 12 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

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Chapters and Stage of Completeness

(More links below)

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Other Ecclesiastes References:

The Basic Exegesis Series: These are lessons sent out weekly, still in progress, as a study of the book of Ecclesiastes. These lessons lack the word-by-word exegesis; and everything found in these lessons is also found in the individual chapters listed above.

What each set of 100 lessons covers is included in the index which begins each group of lessons.

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Additional References on the Book of Ecclesiastes

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Notes on Ecclesiastes from Robert Dean

Robert Dean’s Notes on Ecclesiastes:

http://phrasearch.com/Trans/DBM/Ecclesiastes.html

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Ecclesiastes an expositional Bible study by Pastor William E. Wenstrom, Jr. edited by Warren Doud (PDF) (About pages)

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So-so notes and translation of Ecclesiastes, from Syndein’s website; mostly taken from R. B. Thieme, Jr.’s teaching.

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