I have always wanted to see the look on Qoheleth’s face. An innovative thespian on a spiritual quest recently gave me that chance. A colleague from the theater department at my university had told me ...

As a biblical scholar, whenever I’ve been asked in recent days what scripture has to say in our present time of crisis, I have tended to refer people to the treasure trove of the Psalms, those prayers ...

“To the making of many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” said Ecclesiastes [Kohelet in Hebrew], traditionally believed to be King Solomon, sometime before his death ...

In my first semester of college as a classics major, I translated from Latin the opening passage of the ancient book of Ecclesiastes. This wasn’t ever a book I came across in parochial school or ...

A bunch of readers rebuked me for calling Ecclesiastes a Buddhist book. I don’t know much about Buddhism—I’m no “JewBu“—and I may have made the classic ignoramus mistake of assuming any vaguely ...

Biblical Hebrew uses similar names for “vanity” and the slain brother. That’s no accident. For many, these words resound with a skeptical and, some may say, nihilistic tone. But must they? Russell L.

While Ecclesiastes seems to end, the bottom line is anything but clear instruction. Among the hints are the character’s late tendency to compromise (do a little of this and a little of that), and the ...

Until his 70th birthday, Moriah had never been preoccupied with the passing of time or his own mortality. But as he entered his eighth decade, the Book of Ecclesiastes took on new meaning for him.

A wizened sage named Ecclesiastes tamed my youthful cynicism. Christians like to quiz each other about their favorite book in the Bible. Finding out how people experience Scripture—especially those ...

Ecclesiastes is a controversial book. It has radical ideas that are contrary to today’s Orthodox Judaism. It contains verses that seem to contradict other verses.[1] The opening two verses and at ...