Kohelet Excerpts

בראשית ברא IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED — This verse calls aloud for explanation in the manner that our Rabbis explained it: God created the world for the sake of the Torah which is called (Proverbs 8:22) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) way”, and for the sake of Israel who are called (Jeremiah 2:3) “The beginning (ראשית) of His (God’s) increase’’. If, however, you wish to explain it in its plain sense, explain it thus: At the beginning of the Creation of heaven and earth when the earth was without form and void and there was darkness, God said, “Let there be light”. The text does not intend to point out the order of the acts of Creation — to state that these (heaven and earth) were created first; for if it intended to point this out, it should have written 'בראשונה ברא את השמים וגו “At first God created etc.” And for this reason: Because, wherever the word ראשית occurs in Scripture, it is in the construct state. E. g., (Jeremiah 26:1) “In the beginning of (בראשית) the reign of Jehoiakim”; (Genesis 10:10) “The beginning of (ראשית) his kingdom”; (Deuteronomy 18:4) “The first fruit of (ראשית) thy corn.” Similarly here you must translate בראשית ברא אלהים as though it read בראשית ברוא, at the beginning of God’s creating. A similar grammatical construction (of a noun in construct followed by a verb) is: (Hosea 1:2) תחלת דבר ה' בהושע, which is as much as to say, “At the beginning of God’s speaking through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea.” Should you, however, insist that it does actually intend to point out that these (heaven and earth) were created first, and that the meaning is, “At the beginning of everything He created these, admitting therefore that the word בראשית is in the construct state and explaining the omission of a word signifying “everything” by saying that you have texts which are elliptical, omitting a word, as for example (Job 3:10) “Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb” where it does not explicitly explain who it was that closed the womb; and (Isaiah 8:4) “He shall take away the spoil of Samaria” without explaining who shall take it away; and (Amos 6:12) “Doth he plough with oxen," and it does not explicitly state, “Doth a man plough with oxen”; (Isaiah 46:10) “Declaring from the beginning the end,” and it does not explicitly state, “Declaring from the beginning of a thing the end of a thing’ — if it is so (that you assert that this verse intends to point out that heaven and earth were created first), you should be astonished at yourself, because as a matter of fact the waters were created before heaven and earth, for, lo, it is written, (v. 2) “The Spirit of God was hovering on the face of the waters,” and Scripture had not yet disclosed when the creation of the waters took place — consequently you must learn from this that the creation of the waters preceded that of the earth. And a further proof that the heavens and earth were not the first thing created is that the heavens were created from fire (אש) and water (מים), from which it follows that fire and water were in existence before the heavens. Therefore you must admit that the text teaches nothing about the earlier or later sequence of the acts of Creation.

I, Koheleth, was king in Jerusalem over Israel. I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun.—An unhappy business, that, which God gave men to be concerned with! I observed all the happenings beneath the sun, and I found that all is futile and pursuitfLit. “tending,” from root ra‘ah, “to shepherd.” of wind: A twisted thing that cannot be made straight,A lack that cannot be made good. I said to myself: “Here I have grown richer and wiser than any that ruled before me over Jerusalem, and my mind has zealously absorbed wisdom and learning.” And so I set my mind to appraise wisdom and to appraise madness and folly. And I learned—that this too was pursuit of wind: For as wisdom grows, vexation grows;To increase learning is to increase heartache.

A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven:aI.e., all human experiences are preordained by God; see v. 11. A time for bLit. “giving birth.”being born-b and a time for dying,A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted; A time for cEmendation yields “wrecking…repairing”; cf. 1 Kings 18.30.slaying and a time for healing,-cA time for tearing down and a time for building up; A time for weeping and a time for laughing,A time for wailing and a time for dancing; A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces; A time for seeking and a time for losing,A time for keeping and a time for discarding; A time for ripping and a time for sewing,A time for silence and a time for speaking; A time for loving and a time for hating;A time for war and a time for peace.

The words of KohelethaProbably “the Assembler,” i.e., of hearers or of sayings; cf. 12.9–11. son of David, king in Jerusalem. Utter futility!—said Koheleth—Utter futility! All is futile! What real value is there for a manIn all the gainsbSo Rashbam. Heb. ‘amal usually has this sense in Ecclesiastes; cf. Ps. 105.44. he makes beneath the sun? One generation goes, another comes,But the earth remains the same forever. The sun rises, and the sun sets—And glidescSo Targum; cf. Bereshith Rabbah on Gen. 1.17. back to where it rises. Southward blowing,Turning northward,Ever turning blows the wind;On its rounds the wind returns. All streams flow into the sea,Yet the sea is never full;To the place [from] which they flowThe streams flow back again.dAccording to popular belief, through tunnels; so Targum and Rashi. All such things are wearisome:No man can ever state them;The eye never has enough of seeing,Nor the ear enough of hearing. Only that shall happenWhich has happened,Only that occurWhich has occurred;There is nothing newBeneath the sun! Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us. The earlier ones are not remembered; so too those that will occur later eLit. “will not be remembered like…” For ‘im meaning “like,” cf. 2.16; 7.11; Job 9.26.will no more be remembered than-e those that will occur at the very end.

I said to myself, “Come, I will treat you to merriment. Taste mirth!” That too, I found, was futile. Of revelry I said, “It’s mad!”Of merriment, “What good is that?” I ventured to tempt my flesh with wine, and to grasp folly, while letting my mind direct with wisdom, to the end that I might learn which of the two was better for men to practice in their few days of life under heaven. I multiplied my possessions. I built myself houses and I planted vineyards. I laid out gardens and groves, in which I planted every kind of fruit tree. I constructed pools of water, enough to irrigate a forest shooting up with trees. I bought male and female slaves, and I acquired stewards. I also acquired more cattle, both herds and flocks, than all who were before me in Jerusalem. I further amassed silver and gold and treasures of kings and provinces; and I got myself male and female singers, as well as the luxuries of commoners—coffersaThe Heb. shiddah occurs only here in the Bible; in the Mishnah it designates a kind of chest. and coffers of them. Thus, I gained more wealth than anyone before me in Jerusalem. In addition, my wisdom remained with me: I withheld from my eyes nothing they asked for, and denied myself no enjoyment; rather, I got enjoyment out ofbSeptuagint and a few Heb. manuscripts have “(in exchange) for”; cf. 2.24; 3.13, 22; 5.17. all my wealth. And that was all I got out of my wealth. Then my thoughts turned to all the fortune my hands had built up, to the wealth I had acquired and won—and oh, it was all futile and pursuit of wind; there was no real value under the sun! cThe order of the two sentences in this verse is reversed in the translation for clarity.For what will the man be like who will succeed dChange of vocalization yields “me, and who is to rule”; cf. vv. 18–19.the one who is ruling-d over what was built up long ago?My thoughts also turned to appraising wisdom and madness and folly. I found thatWisdom is superior to follyAs light is superior to darkness; A wise man has his eyes in his head,Whereas a fool walks in darkness.But I also realized that the same fate awaits them both. So I reflected: “The fate of the fool is also destined for me; to what advantage, then, have I been wise?” And I came to the conclusion that that too was futile, because the wise man, just likeeSee note on 1.11. the fool, is not remembered forever; for, as the succeeding days roll by, both are forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies, just like-e the fool! And so I loathed life. For I was distressed by all that goes on under the sun, because everything is futile and pursuit of wind.

And I have noted this further futility under the sun: the case of the man who is alone, with no companion, who has neither son nor brother; yet he amasses wealth without limit, and his eye is never sated with riches. For whom, now, cLit. “am I amassing…myself.”is he amassing it while denying himself-c enjoyment? That too is a futility and an unhappy business. d4.9–5.8 consists of a series of observations, each of which is introduced by some slight association with what precedes. The theme of 4.4–8 is not resumed until 5.9.Two are better off than one, in that they have greater eEmendation yields “hope for”; cf. 2.20.benefit from-e their earnings. For should they fall, one can raise the other; but woe betide him who is alone and falls with no companion to raise him! Further, when two lie together they are warm; but how can he who is alone get warm? Also, if one attacks, two can stand up to him. A threefold cord is not readily broken!

A lover of money never has his fill of money, nor a lover of wealth his fill of income. That too is futile. As his substance increases, so do those who consume it; what, then, does the success of its owner amount to but feasting his eyes? A worker’sfSome ancient versions have “slave’s.” sleep is sweet, whether he has much or little to eat; but the rich man’s abundance doesn’t let him sleep. Here is a grave evil I have observed under the sun: riches hoarded by their owner to his misfortune, in that those riches are lost in some unlucky venture; and if he begets a son, he has nothing in hand. gMoved up from v. 15 for clarity.Another grave evil is this: He must depart just as he came.-g As he came out of his mother’s womb, so must he depart at last, naked as he came. He can take nothing of his wealth to carry with him.

The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind: that God will call every creature to account for sEmendation yields “all their conduct.”everything unknown,-s be it good or bad.The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind.