Question 1

Who is the Preacher and why does he call himself that?

Accepted Answer

The Preacher is a son of David who was king in Jerusalem, often understood to be Solomon. He calls himself “Preacher” because he is not just telling his own story but speaking as someone who gathers people to hear wisdom. He has known power, riches, pleasure, and learning, and now speaks like an older man warning others. By using a title instead of his name, he shifts attention away from himself and toward the message. He wants people to listen and think about how they live in this short and passing world.

Question 2

What does “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” mean here?

Accepted Answer

“Vanity” here means emptiness, a breath, something that does not last or truly satisfy. When the Preacher says “vanity of vanities,” he piles the word up to show how empty life is when you only look at things “under the sun,” apart from God. Work, pleasure, riches, and even earthly wisdom all pass away. They do not give the deep, lasting good our hearts crave. He is not saying life has no meaning at all, but that created things by themselves cannot be our true happiness.

Question 3

What does the question about profit from labor under the sun mean?

Accepted Answer

When he asks, “What profit has a man of all his labor which he takes under the sun?” he is asking what lasting gain comes from all our hard work in this world. People work, worry, and wear themselves out, but they leave everything behind when they die. Even while they live, their work does not fully satisfy their hearts. The point is not that work is useless, but that no job, success, or project can give eternal value by itself. True gain comes only when life and work are related to God.

Question 4

Why does the Preacher talk about the sun, wind, and rivers?

Accepted Answer

He talks about the rising and setting sun, the turning wind, and the rivers running into the sea to show how the world goes on in the same cycles. Generations of people come and go, but these patterns keep repeating. This picture makes human life look small and short compared to the steady order of creation. It also shows that all this motion does not reach a final rest on its own. The sea is never full, and the wind keeps turning. In the same way, human effort and desire never reach fullness apart from God.

Question 5

What does “there is no new thing under the sun” mean?

Accepted Answer

When the Preacher says there is no new thing under the sun, he is not denying that tools or inventions can change. He is looking deeper. Human hearts, sins, desires, fears, and patterns stay the same from age to age. People chase after wealth, honor, pleasure, and knowledge just as those before them did. New things are really old things in a different shape. This helps humble our pride and reminds us that we will not find a new way to be satisfied apart from the God who made us.

Question 6

Why does he say there is no remembrance of former things?

Accepted Answer

He says there is no remembrance of former things to show how quickly people and their works are forgotten. One generation passes, another comes, and soon most names, struggles, and successes are lost from common memory. Even great men and great events fade. This thought can feel heavy, but it also breaks our pride. It warns us not to build our hope on fame, history, or leaving a human legacy. Instead, we are stirred to seek the God who does not forget His people and whose kingdom does not pass away.

Question 7

What does “that which is crooked cannot be made straight” mean?

Accepted Answer

This line speaks about the limits of human power and wisdom. There are broken things in the world and in human life that we cannot fix fully, no matter how hard we try. There are also many lacks and losses we cannot even count or repair. By saying this, the Preacher is not telling us to stop doing good, but he is cutting down the idea that we can, by our own learning and effort, make the world or ourselves perfect. It should lead us to humility and to depend on God’s wisdom and help.

Question 8

Why does the Preacher say that much wisdom brings much grief?

Accepted Answer

He says, “In much wisdom is much grief, and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow,” because the more a person truly understands, the more clearly he sees how broken the world is. Greater insight shows more sin, pain, injustice, and the limits of human power. Wisdom also shows how quickly life passes and how empty many pursuits are. So, wisdom by itself cannot give deep joy. It can even weigh the heart down. Wisdom is good, but it must lead us to fear God and trust Him, not to rely on our own minds.

Question 9

How does this passage speak about the limits of human wisdom?

Accepted Answer

The Preacher tells us he gave his heart to search out everything done under heaven, using the great wisdom God had given him. Yet after all his study and experience, he concluded that life “under the sun” is vanity and vexation of spirit. He found that he could not straighten what is crooked or fill what is lacking. Knowing more only brought more grief, because it exposed how much is wrong and how little we can change. This shows that wisdom alone cannot heal the heart. We need God Himself, not just ideas about life.

Question 10

How can this passage guide how I view my life and work today?

Accepted Answer

This passage teaches you to see your life, work, and goals in light of eternity. It warns you not to expect your job, money, pleasure, or even learning to fill the deep hunger of your soul. It also reminds you how short life is and how quickly people are forgotten. Instead of chasing satisfaction in created things, you are invited to hold them loosely and receive them from God’s hand. Your work matters when it is done before God, with trust and obedience, but it must not become your god or your hope.

Ecclesiastes 1:1

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Everything Is Futile

With Wisdom Comes Sorrow

Everything Is Futile

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Ecclesiastes 1:1

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

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Everything Is Futile

With Wisdom Comes Sorrow

Everything Is Futile

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