THE QUESTION `WHAT IS THAT GOOD?'
7
Shulamite on her return home after rejecting all Solomon's overtures, says `My vineyard, which is mine, is before
me: thou, O Solomon, mayest keep thy THOUSAND' (Song of Sol. 8:12, see The Companion Bible). These passages
give point to Ecclesiastes 7:28:
`One man among A THOUSAND have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found'.
Solomon with all his wisdom played the fool, because he did not heed this particular word of the Lord. `The
conclusion of the whole matter' refers all happiness under the sun to `fearing God' and `keeping His
commandments'. Solomon found the word `vanity' written across life by reason of his failure in this particular.
Lives differ, and what is one man's weakness may be no temptation to another, but all experience leads to the
same conclusion. Whoever transgresses the commandment of God must of necessity wreck his career. In
Solomon's case, he ignored the warning concerning outlandish women. In the case of others, the warning of
Scripture concerning wealth, fame, business entanglement, the world &c., being ignored, Ichabod is as surely
written across the wasted life. These seven occurrences of Koheleth reveal the unity of the book and direct us to its
theme, its conclusion and its consistency.
THE QUESTION OF AUTHORSHIP
7
CHAPTER 2
The Question of Authorship
`All Scripture is given by inspiration of God' (2 Tim. 3:16)
At the conclusion of the Gospel according to John, we read:
`This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and WE KNOW THAT HIS TESTIMONY
IS TRUE' (21:24).
At the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, we read:
`The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was
UPRIGHT,
even
WORDS OF
TRUTH' (12:10).
As believers in the Lord and His Word, we unhesitatingly accept the testimony of John, yet many orthodox
Christians have no hesitation in sweeping aside the testimony of Ecclesiastes with the remark `It is all under the sun'
- but why statements concerning things `under the sun' should not be at the same time true is left unexplained.
Two important considerations arise out of the fact that Ecclesiastes is a part of the canonical Scriptures and
claims to be written in words of truth.
(1) Seeing that Ecclesiastes was included in the Hebrew Scriptures long before the time of our Lord's earthly
ministry, it received His approval when He referred in Luke 24 to the complete Old Testament by using the accepted
title, `The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms'. This threefold title of the Old Testament Scriptures
includes, under the heading of `The Psalms', or as it is sometimes given `The Writings', all the Hebrew Scriptures
not already included in the Law and the Prophets. Among these `Writings' or `Psalms' are the Song of Solomon,
Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Ruth, Job and such a book as Esther which does not contain the name of God, except in
acrostic form. The attitude of mind that so lightly dismisses Ecclesiastes could, with little difficulty, dismiss Esther
or the Song of Solomon.
(2) To omit this book from our study is to deprive ourselves of one aspect of truth which will prevent us from
being `perfect' and `throughly' furnished. This book being inspired Scripture, must be profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.
Adverse critics of this book may be concluded under two headings. Those whose theological opinions do not
agree with some of its teaching, and those who, on the grounds of `higher criticism', pronounce the book to be either