King James Version
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Ecclesiastes: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | The Preacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem, traditionally Solomon. The Talmud says Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote it. Many scholars, including conservative ones, think a later writer used Solomon’s persona. |
|---|---|
| Date | About 935 BC in one survey. Many scholars date it about 450–250 BC on grounds of its Hebrew. |
| Place written | Jerusalem, modern Jerusalem, according to the book’s setting. |
| Genre | Wisdom reflection on the meaning of life. |
| Chapters | 12 |
| Verses | 222 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | Ecclesiastes 12:13Ecclesiastes 12:13 · King James VersionLet us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.Ecclesiastes 12:13 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
Ecclesiastes 1:1Ecclesiastes 1:1 · King James VersionThe words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) names the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Ecclesiastes 1:12Ecclesiastes 1:12 · King James VersionI the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:12 · King James VersionOpen the Source says he was king over Israel. The book never names Solomon. The Talmud says Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote it. (2) Many scholars, including some conservative ones, think the late Hebrew, Persian loanwords, and the epilogue in Ecclesiastes 12:9–10Ecclesiastes 12:9–10 · King James Version12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
Ecclesiastes 12:9–10 · King James VersionOpen the Source point to a later writer who adopted Solomon’s voice. Others defend Solomon.
Who It Is Not
If the persona view is right, Solomon is the voice, not the writer.
When and Where
Bible Gateway gives about 935 BC. (4)
Audience and Setting
Readers seeking meaning under the sun. The purpose is to expose the emptiness of life without God and to call readers to fear God.
Rulers at the Time
The Preacher is a king in Jerusalem. Reign dates were not checked for this essay and are omitted.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| The search | Ecclesiastes 1–2 |
| A time for everything | Ecclesiastes 3 |
| Observations | Ecclesiastes 4–10 |
| Conclusion | Ecclesiastes 11–12 |
| Composition | About 935 BC in one survey. Many scholars date it later. (4) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem | The Old City of Jerusalem. | Ecclesiastes 1:1Ecclesiastes 1:1 · King James VersionThe words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.Ecclesiastes 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
Ecclesiastes 1–2 test wisdom, pleasure, and work. Ecclesiastes 3–10 observe time, injustice, and death. Ecclesiastes 11–12 call readers to enjoy life, remember the Creator, and fear God.
Key Themes
Vanity under the sun in Ecclesiastes 1:2Ecclesiastes 1:2 · King James VersionVanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source. A time for every purpose in Ecclesiastes 3:1Ecclesiastes 3:1 · King James VersionTo every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Fear God in Ecclesiastes 12:13Ecclesiastes 12:13 · King James VersionLet us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
Skeptics quote the book’s pessimism. Its conclusion, in Ecclesiastes 12:13–14Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 · King James Version12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:13–14 · King James VersionOpen the Source, frames that pessimism as the view under the sun without God.
How the Book Points to Christ
The emptiness of life under the sun is answered by the resurrection, which makes labor not in vain in 1 Corinthians 15:581 Corinthians 15:58 · King James VersionTherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:58 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
Ecclesiastes is among the books found at Qumran. (5)
Canon Reception
Rabbis debated whether Ecclesiastes defiled the hands, meaning whether it was sacred, before it was settled. This page did not check the Mishnah text on that debate and gives it only as known history. (3)
Further Reading
References
- Book of Ecclesiastes, 1:1; 1:12; 12:9–10Ecclesiastes 1:1 · King James Version
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, 15a (The William Davidson English on Sefaria is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The page continues the list of writers and the debate about it.)
- Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, Ecclesiastes (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives Ecclesiastes as around 935 BC. It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.