![]() One of the most valuable qualities of Ecclesiastes, along with its remarkable poetry, is this honesty about the way the world works: it might be regarded as a precursor to that great work of Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (Penguin Classics), which also urges us to accept what we cannot alter, even though this often means having to swallow some rather unpalatable truths about the way power works. This remains as true now as it did over two millennia ago when its author wrote it: we must accept that there are political institutions and governmental systems which lead upwards to tyranny, keeping the poor needy and making a mockery of justice. Whoever its author was (a wealthy Israelite who lived close enough to Jerusalem to have witnessed several events first-hand, as the Dictionary of the Bible notes), it’s thought that the whole Book of Ecclesiastes was written by this one author, with the exception of the last six verses, which a follower or pupil probably added. ![]() The title by which the book is known to us, Ecclesiastes, is from St Jerome’s Latin translation, and is ultimately from the Greek meaning ‘assembly’, following the Hebrew title of the original, K ō heleth, which is thought to mean the same thing. (Besides, 2:12 makes it clear that the author is coming ‘after the king’, so probably in the wake of wise Solomon.) ![]() And although the author of Ecclesiastes announces himself as ‘son of David’, suggesting Solomon, scholars believe that this was merely a conventional ascription and that a later author wrote the book. Thought to have been written between 300 and 200 BC, the Book of Ecclesiastes is an example of biblical ‘wisdom literature’, which is usually attributed to Solomon.
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