Traditionally, Ecclesiastes is understood to be authored by King Solomon (1010-931 BC). Taking 1:1 at face value, these are the words of the “Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” Given the ...

As a biblical scholar, whenever I’ve been asked in recent days what scripture has to say in our present time of crisis, I have tended to refer people to the treasure trove of the Psalms, those prayers ...

I have always wanted to see the look on Qoheleth’s face. An innovative thespian on a spiritual quest recently gave me that chance. A colleague from the theater department at my university had told me ...

You are going to die. And no one is going to remember you. The stuff you’re working hard on is going to be completely undone. As if it was never there. And no one is going to care. That’s not ...

In my first semester of college as a classics major, I translated from Latin the opening passage of the ancient book of Ecclesiastes. This wasn’t ever a book I came across in parochial school or ...

“To the making of many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” said Ecclesiastes [Kohelet in Hebrew], traditionally believed to be King Solomon, sometime before his death ...

Until his 70th birthday, Moriah had never been preoccupied with the passing of time or his own mortality. But as he entered his eighth decade, the Book of Ecclesiastes took on new meaning for him.

While Ecclesiastes seems to end, the bottom line is anything but clear instruction. Among the hints are the character’s late tendency to compromise (do a little of this and a little of that), and the ...

A bunch of readers rebuked me for calling Ecclesiastes a Buddhist book. I don’t know much about Buddhism—I’m no “JewBu“—and I may have made the classic ignoramus mistake of assuming any vaguely ...

Corinne Allal singing Ecclesiastes. It has the sound of an unlikely partnership; the 59-year-old rocker singing the deep thoughts of an ancient writer bemoaning his life. Unlikely, yes, agreed Allal.