Part 1 of 2
The book of Ecclesiastes has three main parts. In the first eleven verses of chapter 1, we have the introduction, where some of the themes of the book are introduced. Next, we have the main body of the book from verse 12 of chapter 1 all the way to chapter 12 verse 7. Here, we find one long speech by the preacher in which he basically gives his thoughts and reflections on life as well as his wise advice on various matters. And finally, in chapter 12 verses 8-14, we have the concluding section of the book.
This concluding section may be further divided into two parts. The first, from verses 8-12, is a description of the preacher’s person and work, while the second, from verses 13-14, is a statement on the end or conclusion of the whole matter.
We will consider the first part in this article.
A Description of the Preacher’s Person and Work (12:8-12)
It appears that there were at least two persons involved in the writing of Ecclesiastes. The first was, of course, the preacher himself, whom most believe was king Solomon. He was responsible for the main body of the book. But the introduction and conclusion was probably written by someone else, whom we may describe as the narrator.
He says in verse 8, “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.” This is exactly what he said at the beginning of the book. This statement sums up the under-the-sun perspective of life, which is one of the main themes of this book.
When anyone tries to live his life apart from God and as if there was nothing beyond this material and physical realm, sooner or later, he will find that everything is hopelessly meaningless. Wisdom, wealth, pleasure, success, fame, hard work and so on are all ultimately meaningless and vain apart from God.
Then having restated the major theme of the preacher, the narrator tells us in verse 9 that the preacher was wise. In the Bible, wisdom is defined in terms of one’s relationship with the LORD and obedience to His word. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. No one can be truly wise who does not fear the Lord and this fear of the Lord will affect a person in very practical ways.
So the preacher was wise from God’s point of view but he did not keep this wisdom to himself. Instead, he sought to impart the knowledge of this wisdom in two ways.
First, he “gave good heed, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.” The word “proverb” is a broad term which includes parables and riddles and other sayings. The preacher did not simply assemble a random collection of sayings and then give them to the people. Rather, he carefully considered and weighed in the balances the many existing wisdom sayings in those days, and evaluated them to see if they reflected true wisdom. Then, having weighed and studied them carefully, he arranged them in a certain order for the benefit of the people. The point of verse 9 is to emphasize the diligence and meticulous character of the preacher.
Then in verse 10, the narrator gives us the second way in which the preacher sought to impart knowledge to the people. “The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.”
The word “acceptable” means aesthetically pleasing or delightful or beautiful words. The preacher was not content just to present the words of the proverbs in dull or uninteresting language but he sought to find beautiful and delightful and memorable ways of presenting them.
This reminds us that there is indeed a place for beautiful speech and appropriate figures of speech in our use of language, and that everything does not have to be spoken in purely literal terms. Our God is a God of beauty and creativity and variety. And we should not be afraid or reluctant to adorn and embellish our communication, especially if it drives home the point more effectively.
The author David Gibson, in his book on Ecclesiastes, wrote, “The poetry about old age being like a house that is closing down makes us feel the poignancy of old age, and by its very form drives home the urgency of knowing God now, while we can.”
Then besides aesthetically pleasing and delightful language, the preacher is also concerned about communicating the truth. The second part of verse 10 can be translated, “to write honestly words of truth.” Beautiful language alone is not enough and it must never be employed at the expense of truth. Rather it must serve the purposes of truth.
The narrator then uses a proverb of his own to describe the words of wisdom in verse 11, “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.”
Let’s try and unpack the meaning of the images which the narrator employs. First, he says that the words of the wise are given by one shepherd. Who is this one shepherd? In the book of Ezekiel, the phrase “one shepherd” is used twice, once in chapter 34 and once in chapter 37, and in both instances, it refers to the promised Messiah, the son of David, the shepherd King. Then when we go to the New Testament, we find the Lord Jesus identifying Himself as the good and wise shepherd of His people. He is the one shepherd that the narrator is speaking of.
Next, the narrator says that the words of the wise are like goads. Goads are large pointed sticks with which the farmer would use to poke the animals to get them moving and turning in a particular direction. They work because they cause discomfort and pain. So for example, the farmer wants the ox to go straight. If it goes to the left, there would be pain; if it goes to the right, pain again, and if it stopped, even more pain. The only way to avoid pain would be to keep on going in the direction the farmer wants it to go.
What the narrator is saying is that the words of the wise are like a goad – painful but necessary in order to steer us and keep us going in the right direction. And we will need the goad of God’s word because of the old man or the remnant of corrupt.
But the narrator also says in verse 11 that the words of the wise are as nails fastened by “the masters of assemblies.” This phrase can be translated “their collected sayings.” These collected sayings or words of wisdom are likened to nails firmly fixed. We can think of tent pegs or stakes that are firmly planted into the ground in order to keep the tent stable and secure, and prevent it from being blown away by strong winds. In a similar way, the collected sayings of the wise give stability and security to one’s life.
And so the words of wisdom serve both as goads to prod us in the right direction as well as nails to which we can securely affix our lives.
Then having recommended the writings of the preacher, the narrator goes on to say in verse 12, “And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”
He is not saying that books are useless, and neither is he discouraging us from obtaining and reading many books or giving ourselves to much study. Rather, he is warning us against the kind of reading and studying and writing that seeks to unravel the meaning of life apart from God’s inspired word. Such activity is useless and wearisome indeed. The answers for which men have been seeking and searching all these years is found in the divinely inspired book, which we call the Bible.
Furthermore, the narrator is warning us not to go beyond the revealed wisdom of the Shepherd. We should beware of anything that goes beyond what the good Shepherd teaches us in His word.
So having considered the narrator’s description of the preacher’s person and work, we are ready to consider his statement about the end or conclusion of the whole matter, which we will do in the next article.
– Linus Chua