The Futility of All Activity

The speaker of the book of Ecclesiastes (Koheleth in Hebrew) relates his experiments and observations on the subject of what is meaningful in life. He calls himself Koheleth, which is a pseudonym (it is not a proper name at all; it means “the assembler”). The superscription calls him “son of David, king in Jerusalem,” broadly hinting that this is Solomon, known for his God-given wisdom. The book was composed in the Persian or Greek period. Koheleth tries out different things thought to be beneficial—wealth, pleasure, and wisdom—but he finds that none brings ultimate meaning to life. Everything is fleeting, nothing lasts forever. Among other things that he considers are friendship, work or toil, the cycles of the natural order, human governance, youth and old age, and death. Koheleth seeks to make sense of the world and to discover what brings lasting value to life—in other words, the purpose of life. He is continually frustrated by his search and never finds an answer. He realizes, ultimately, that there are limits to human understanding. At best, he concludes, all we can do is to enjoy whatever we have whenever we have it, for this is what God intended.