Author: Not stated but probably Solomon. The author is identified as “the son of David” (1:1) and “king over Israel in Jerusalem” (1:12) and says he had “more wisdom than all they that have been before me” (1:16).
Date: 900s BC.
In Ten Words or Less: Apart from God, life is empty and unsatisfying.
Details: A king pursues the things of this world, only to find them unfulfilling. Learning, pleasure, work, laughter - “all is vanity” (1:2). The king also laments the inequities of life: People live, work hard, and die, only to leave their belongings to someone else; the wicked prosper over the righteous; the poor are oppressed. Nevertheless, the king realizes “the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (12:13).
From Know Your Bible, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.
