The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the most interesting parts of the Old Testament, since it is not a religious, but a philosophical text, understanding the relationship between man and the Universe. Unfortunately, the text is permeated with fatalism and a pessimistic view of the world and people. Among other observations, the book reports that he “knew wisdom, madness and” and came to the conclusion that all this is “languor of spirit”, and the one who “increases knowledge multiplies.”
The author of the book of Ecclesiastes advises to give up trying to improve the world and humanity, and instead enjoy life.
From a certain point of view, this idea is quite fair, since the abundance of information, its comprehension and the identification of cause-and-effect relationships can lead a person to rather sad conclusions. In principle, this thesis is illustrated by the famous Russian proverb “smaller, stronger.” Even in the most primitive sense, this expression is true, because the less negative information is known, the less reason for sadness. This is why many people choose to ignore news reports to avoid getting upset.
Is there much sorrow in much wisdom?
The lives of many people are filled with constant fatigue and hopeless daily routine at work and at home. And here also experience, acquired knowledge, and understanding of life reveal its many sad sides. Sooner or later, a logical question arises: how to correctly relate to the biblical words “many knowledge, many sorrows”? Is it really possible that if you know a lot, a person’s life will inevitably be filled with grief and sadness? And in general, who said “many knowledge, many sorrows”?
“Many knowledge, many sorrows...”
Book of Ecclesiastes: writing history and authorship
The book of Ecclesiastes is a unique text in the Old Testament Holy Scripture. It is often said that this is the most “unbiblical” book. It contains no clear evidence of faith. There are no prophetic predictions or instructions in it. The described meaninglessness of human life, as it seems at first glance, contradicts the very spirit of Holy Scripture.
There is still no generally accepted opinion about its author and the time of writing. However, there is a traditional view that it was written by the Jewish king Solomon (10th century) at the end of his long life. The author himself points to this, calling himself the son of David and king in Jerusalem. It was the alleged authorship of Solomon that influenced the fate of the Book - it was included in the Jewish Holy Scripture.
The title "Ecclesiastes" is a Greek translation from Hebrew. In the original the text is called Kohelet - “speaker in the congregation”, “preacher”. That is, Ecclesiastes is not the author’s proper name.
The oldest legend about the authorship of King Solomon, the son of King David, was questioned in the 17th century by the Dutch Christian theologian Hugo Grotius. This position was taken up and substantiated by a number of Protestant scholars who denied the authenticity of the Book. At the same time, doubts were expressed regarding the time of writing. The discrepancies in dating amounted to several centuries. For example, the German historian Friedrich Delitzsch - to 464-332 BC, and the German historian Heinrich Graetz - to the 1st century BC. In their opinion, in the Book of Ecclesiastes there are descriptions of the disasters of life, about which nothing is known from the life of Solomon. The Book also uses words whose use is unusual for the era of King Solomon.
For Christian theology, the question of who exactly wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes is not fundamental. The main thing remains the meaning of this Scripture.
What is this book about?
At first glance, the main motive of the Book of Ecclesiastes is the meaninglessness of human life. The author describes a picture of the eternal cycle of life. Everything is called vanity, a meaningless waste of time. Not only the acquisition of wealth, power, and pleasure, but also any human labor is defined as useless.
The author says that there will never be real justice in the world. One will always dominate the other. There will always be bribed judges. The sage does not even see any difference between people and animals: both die. There is no point in gaining knowledge and wisdom, since this only increases a person’s sorrow.
The frequently used word “hevel” (from the Chaldean “habal” - “to smoke, evaporate”) is translated into Russian as “vanity” - empty, fruitless activities.
The only worthy position in life is to enjoy the process of life itself, while remembering its vanity. Ecclesiastes believes that, in general, human activity is ineffective; we cannot change the existing order of things on earth. Everything in human life is transitory. Nothing earthly can give a feeling of perfect happiness. Bliss can only be achieved in God.
The futility of life squared
The word “vanity” in the original literally sounds like “breath.” The image of the wind swirling in one place and returning to normal becomes a symbol of human life - empty and meaningless, like the wind, endlessly repeating itself and ending suddenly and irrevocably.
For everything there is a time, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to destroy, and a time to build;
a time to cry, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to scatter stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to hug, and a time to avoid hugs;
time to seek, and time to lose; a time to save, and a time to throw away;
a time to rend, and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace (Eccl. 3:1-8) .
This image is completed by the grammatical form “vanity of vanities,” already familiar to us from the Song of Songs. Vanity squared, the final, irrevocable and most terrible futility of everything that could be imagined... Man is unable to change the blind course of things, the endless change of birth and death, love and hate, sowing and reaping.
The first chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes
Words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities - all is vanity!
What profit does a man get from all the labors he toils under the sun?
A generation passes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises, and the sun sets, and hastens to its place where it rises.
The wind goes to the south, and goes to the north, spins, spins as it goes, and the wind returns to its circles.
All rivers flow into the sea, but the sea does not overflow: to the place from which the rivers flow, they return to flow again.
All things are in labor: a person cannot retell everything; The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear will be filled with hearing.
What has been is what will be; and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
There is something about which they say: “look, this is new”; but this was already in the centuries that were before us.
There is no memory of the past; and those who come after will have no memory of what will happen.
I, Ecclesiastes, was king over Israel in Jerusalem;
and I gave my heart to search and test with wisdom all that is done under heaven: this difficult task God gave to the sons of men so that they would practice in it.
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, everything is vanity and vexation of spirit!
What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is not there cannot be counted.
I spoke to my heart like this: Behold, I have become exalted and gained wisdom more than all who were before me over Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.
And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and stupidity: I learned that this too is languor of the spirit;
because in much wisdom there is much sorrow; and whoever increases knowledge increases sorrow.
The tragedy of the oligarch
Ecclesiastes means "gatherer." The Hebrew name for the book, kohelet, is feminine. It means “collection, collection” of wise sayings. It is written on behalf of the “son of David, king in Jerusalem” - that is, the wise Solomon. The basic ideas of this book are very similar to ancient Greek philosophy of the 5th century BC. — the teaching of Heraclitus about the cyclical nature of the world, skepticism and hedonism. Because of this, a number of researchers consider it to be a late work attributed to Solomon (who lived in the 10th century BC).
One way or another, his image appears in the book: he is a rich elderly man, fed up with goods. All his life he achieved something, built something and planned something, but in the end he came to the realization that everything was in vain.
We often read similar stories about rich people from social networks and hear from TV shows. Some people donate their accumulated wealth to charity, become a downshifter and settle on a desert island, others, unable to find a purpose in life, end up committing suicide. Until some point, all these people have dreams and plans, they strive to become even more rich in order to realize them. Over time, their ideas, like themselves, become more and more bizarre and shocking. They rush to try everything, bring any idea to life, and in the end they come to the same conclusion as King Solomon. The rich of this world are perplexed why they needed all this.
An ordinary person of small income can strive for a dream all his life and never achieve it. If you ask him why he lives in this world, he will point to his dream or some immediate goals. Someone lives for the sake of loved ones or a good cause that seems very important to him. But imagine a person for whom the concept of a dream does not exist: everything he has in mind immediately becomes a reality. Whether he wants to help someone, with a snap of his fingers, any number of people will be benefited in an instant. In his old age, he can no longer live for the sake of his loved ones, because he has lost them.
Imagine a person left alone with this world, who is no longer pleased with luxury and wealth, because they cannot cover up the horrors that he saw and experienced in his life. Having reached the limits of human dreams and deprived of the opportunity to dream, the oligarch, the biblical King Solomon, from the pinnacle of glory, greatness and fabulous wealth, declares that all this makes no sense.
“Many knowledge, many sorrows” - is it about depression?
The words of Ecclesiastes, “many knowledge, many sorrows,” speak of the experience of a person who once sought to acquire wisdom and all kinds of knowledge. However, as time passed, the author felt that all this was the vanity of life, the pursuit of the wind. Happiness on earth was not found, only suffering increased from understanding the illusory nature of human hope.
However, the author's words do not indicate his depressive state. Ecclesiastes is not a pessimist. With his reasoning, he prepares for the perception of real wisdom revealed in the New Testament. They learned the ways of Divine Providence. And the one who finds the True God in his heart gains real wisdom. This always leads to real joy rather than sadness.
“The teaching about wisdom in the Psalms, in the books of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, as well as in other Old Testament Scriptures, had educational significance. It prepared for the perception of the highest wisdom that appeared in Jesus Christ: “Oh, the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 11:33). Only by uniting with Christ can a person gain true wisdom, which not only does not increase sadness and sorrow, but gives the blissful joy of knowing a new life” (hieromonk Job Gumerov).
God or blind chance?
The author of Ecclesiastes is a tired and disillusioned man. It is not to the swift that the race will be successful, nor to the brave the victory, nor to the wise the bread, nor to the wise the wealth, nor to the skillful the favor, but time and chance for all of them. Life is terribly unfair and illogical. The righteous receive what the wicked deserve, and sinners become rich and prosper on earth. The picture of the world of a devout Jew is shattered: it seems that everything happens without regard to good or evil, there is no retribution or reward. It seems that the world is ruled by blind chance, and the eternal cycle of things cannot be changed in any way.
However, this is not so bad. The meaninglessness of things in themselves is completed by the complete meaninglessness of existence itself: the wise man dies equally with the foolish, and man has no advantage over cattle; the same fate for the righteous and the wicked. Life, whatever it may be, any acquisitions, achievements, wisdom and knowledge, love for neighbors - everything is meaningless by death. If the father of King Solomon, the psalmist David, sees this as a reason to exalt the Creator:
"God! What is man, that You know about him, and the son of man, that You pay attention to him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a shifting shadow” (Ps. 143:3-4), then his son is not consoled by this. The tragedy of death is seen too clearly by them, overshadowing the joy of life and the sun itself in the sky.
Man, like all of nature, is subject to the merciless cycle of birth and dying. Whether he believes or not, whether he is good or evil, wise or foolish, whether he lives according to the commandments or contrary to them, nothing will save him from this fate. The end of all a person's affairs comes with his death. Having barely begun, he must finish.
If in everything else you can rely on God, dare to ask Him for something, then here He is implacable. Man shares the same fate with animals - and these are not the words of an atheist from a lecture on “scientific atheism,” but of a deeply religious person, who continually calls: remember your Creator in the days of your youth.
Christian understanding of the words “Many knowledge, many sorrows”
What is the Christian understanding of the words “many knowledge, many sorrows”? Accurate understanding requires study of the entire Book and correct interpretation. Taking a single phrase, even a very vivid one, out of context does not allow one to understand its true meaning.
According to the Holy Fathers, the main idea of the Book of Ecclesiastes is to indicate that it is necessary to reject earthly vanity. The most valuable thing for a person is serving the Lord. And everything else on earth is just smoke, which easily dissipates and leaves no traces. Even human wisdom is considered insufficient and meaningless without communication with God.
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God” (First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, 3:19).
However, understanding the temporality of earthly life is not a reason to give up. Vanity and meaninglessness reveal a person’s own helplessness, forcing him to look for answers to questions that trouble his soul. Where can I find support? What is the meaning of what is happening and of life? These searches of a person lead to the fact that the Presence of God is revealed to them, faith is born, and hope appears. The Christian attitude to life is the desire to achieve unity with God, which means peace and bliss.
Much knowledge - many sorrows
However, King Solomon did not only mean a conscious refusal of current news. The fact is that the process of cognition is usually associated with disappointment. The less reliable information available to a person, the more scope there is for the imagination. Since dark dreams are usually not typical for people, some idea based on insufficient knowledge, supplemented by fantasies, will almost always be more rosy than in reality.
The word "ecclesiastes" roughly means "preaching to a group of people."
Finally, mixed with these griefs is regret about human actions and their motives. Here, as in the previous case, the problem is that real people are often quite different from the idea of them. For example, many children, having matured, are disappointed in their favorite childhood heroes, having learned that their actions were driven not by noble motives, but by a banal lack of money or ambition. On the other hand, such reasoning seems somewhat one-sided, but this is the problem with almost the entire book of Ecclesiastes. In real life, you should not forget that by consciously or subconsciously depriving yourself of certain knowledge, you not only reduce the likelihood of disappointment, but also make your life more boring and insipid. Of course, much knowledge can lead to many sorrows, but existence without knowledge at all is much worse, so do not deprive yourself of the joy of knowing the world, despite the gloomy conclusions of King Solomon.
Opinions of the Holy Fathers on the words “many knowledge, many sorrows”
St. Augustine (354-430)
“The human race tends to value knowledge of earthly and heavenly things very highly. But, of course, the best [of its representatives] are those who prefer self-knowledge to this knowledge. A soul that knows its weakness is more worthy of praise than one... that remains ignorant of how to achieve its salvation and affirmation...
After all, therefore, the knowledge of the needy [translation option: “doing”, “working”] and the suffering does not puff up, because love edifies (1 Cor. 8:1). For he preferred knowledge to knowledge, since he preferred to know his weakness rather than the limits of the world, the foundations of the earth and the heights of the heavens. And by increasing knowledge, he increased sorrow [translation option: “hard work”], sorrow from his journey because of the desire to [achieve] his homeland and the good God the Creator.”
Venerable Jerome the Blessed of Stridon (342-420)
“For in the abundance of wisdom is the abundance of indignation: and he who adds to wisdom adds sorrow. The more someone comprehends wisdom, the more indignant he is that he is subject to vices and is far from the virtues to which he strives (Wisdom 6:7). And since the strong will endure severe torment, and to whom more is entrusted, the more is demanded, then he who applies wisdom also applies grief, is distressed by sorrow for God and grieves over his sins.
Therefore, the Apostle says: “Whoever makes me happy, let him receive sorrow from me” (2 Cor. 2:2). But perhaps we can also understand here that the wise man grieves that wisdom is hidden in such distance and depth, and is not communicated to the mind as light is to vision, but is achieved with some torment, unbearable labor, constant deepening and study "
Hieromartyr Dionysius of Alexandria (2-3 century)
“In vain I was puffed up and applied wisdom, not that which God gave, but that about which Paul says: the wisdom of this world is wisdom with God (1 Cor. 3:19). Solomon studied this wisdom beyond measure, more than all the ancients. Now he shows its vanity, as can be seen from further words. And my heart, he says, has seen much, I have known wisdom and understanding, parables and cunning, but wisdom and understanding are not true, but that which, according to Paul, is boastful (1 Cor. 8:1). He said, according to the testimony of Scripture, three thousand parables (1 Kings 4:32), but not spiritual ones, but related to the ordinary activities of people, such as, for example, parables about animals or about medicines.
Therefore, he added with disdain: I understood that this too is the will of the spirit. And the multitude of intelligence is not (that intelligence that) comes from the Holy Spirit, but that which deals with the measurement of the sky, the position of the earth, the limits of the sea and is produced by the leader of this world, who sends it to catch souls. But applying the mind in the area of these objects will apply disease.”
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