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Eccl.1:1. Words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, king in Jerusalem 1. Scripture very clearly shows that Solomon was called by three names: “Solomon”, i.e. “peace-loving”, “Ididia”, i.e. “beloved of the Lord”, and, as it is now called, “Koeleth”, i.e. “Ecclesiastes”. Ecclesiastes in Greek is the name of the one who convenes the assembly, that is, the church, and we can translate this word “preacher” because he speaks to the people, and his speech addresses not one person in particular, but everyone in general. Further, he is called “peace-loving” and “beloved” of the Lord because during his reign there was peace, and the Lord loved him. And psalms forty-four and seventy-one are designated by the inscription: “beloved and peace-loving.” Although they, relating to the prophecies about Christ and the Church, in the image exceed the prosperity and power of Solomon, nevertheless, in a historical sense, they are written about Solomon. According to the number of titles, Solomon wrote three books: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. In Proverbs he teaches at a young age and with sayings instructs him in the duties of life, which is why his speech often turns to “his son.” In Ecclesiastes, he instructs a man of mature age so that in the objects of the world he does not recognize anything as eternal, but considers everything that we see to be perishable and fleeting. Finally, in the Song of Songs, he brings into the arms of the Bridegroom a husband already prepared, perfect and advanced in age. For if we do not first abandon vices and, despising the glory of the world, do not make ourselves ready for the coming of Christ, then we cannot say: “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his lips” (Song. 1:1). And philosophers give education to their students without deviating far from this order of teaching: they first teach them physics, then explain physics, and whoever they see has succeeded in these sciences, transfers them to logic. Moreover, and this should be especially carefully noted, the inscription of each of the writer’s three books is different. In Proverbs it is stated: “The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel”; in Ecclesiastes: “the words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (the word “Israel”, which is incorrect in the Greek and Latin codes, is unnecessary here); and in the inscription of the Song of Songs Solomon is not designated either as the son of David, or as the king of Israel, or in Jerusalem, but only stands: “Song of Solomon.” For, while Proverbs and the original instruction refer to the twelve tribes and to all Israel, and while the contempt of the world is especially appropriate for the inhabitants of the capital, that is, Jerusalem: the Song of Songs actually addresses those who seek only the things above. For beginners and those who are improving, Solomon rightly displays both the dignity of his father and his own royal authority, but for the perfect, where the student is admonished not by fear, but by love, his own name is enough, the teacher is equal and does not present himself as a king. This, however, is interpreted literally. And according to spiritual understanding: the peace-loving and beloved of God the Father and our Ecclesiastes is Christ, who, having destroyed the barrier that stood in the middle and abolished enmity with his flesh, made both one, saying: “My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you” (John 14:27), about whom the Father said to the disciples: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him,” who is the head of all churches. He speaks not to the synagogue of the Jews, but to the multitude of the Gentiles; He is the king of Jerusalem, created from living stones, not the one about which He Himself said: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, slaying the prophets” (Matt. 23:37) and: “Behold, your house itself is left empty” (Matt. 23:38), but the one to which He forbids swearing, because it is the city of the great King. He is the Son of David, to whom the blind in the Gospel cried out: “Have mercy on us, son of David” (Matthew 9:27), and the whole multitude unanimously exclaimed: “Hosanna to the son of David” (Matthew 21:9). Finally, the word of God does not come to Him as to Jeremiah and the other prophets, but since He Himself is rich, and a king, and powerful (for He is the Word, and Wisdom, and other powers), He Himself speaks to the men of the church - He inspires words to the apostles, about whom it is sung in the psalm: “Their words went out into all the earth, and their words went out to the ends of the world” (Ps. 18:5). Wrongly, some people think that from this book we are aroused to pleasures and luxury: on the contrary, here the teaching is proposed that everything that we see in the world is vanity, and that we should not strive for what comes immediately after we achieve it. Eccl.1:2. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. If everything that God created is “very good,” then how is it all vanity, and not only vanity, but also vanity of vanities? Just as the name of the Song of Songs shows that this is the most excellent song among all songs, so the word “vanity of vanities” denotes the greatness of vanity. Something similar is written in the psalm: “Besides, every living man is all vanity” (Ps. 39:6). If a living man is vanity, then a dead man is vanity of vanities. In Exodus we read that the face of Moses was so glorified that the children of Israel could not look at him; but in comparison with the glory of the Gospel, the Apostle Paul calls this glory unglorious: “For that which was glorified in this part was not glorified for the glory that surpasses it” (2 Cor. 3:10). This means that in a similar sense, we can recognize the sky, the earth, the seas and everything that is contained within their boundaries as good in ourselves, but, in comparison with God, consider them to be nothing. Looking at the light of the lamp, I am content with its light; but then, when the sun rises, I don’t notice what was producing the light, and I see that even the starry luminaries were hidden from the brilliance of the sun. Likewise, looking at the world and at the wide variety of objects, although I am amazed at the greatness of creation, but, reflecting that all this passes, and that the world grows old and has its end, and that God alone is always what was, I am involuntarily forced not once, but twice to say: “vanity of vanities and all is vanity.” In Hebrew, instead of vanity of vanities, it stands: abal аbalim, which, with the exception of the Seventy Interpreters, everyone translated in the same way: α ’ τμός α ’ τμίδων, or ατμών, which we can translate “steam” of smoke and a light “breeze” that soon dissipates. This word, therefore, shows the perishability and insignificance of everything that exists. For everything visible is temporary, but everything invisible is eternal. Or: since the creation is subject to vanity and groans, suffers and awaits the revelation of the glory of the children of God, and since we now partly understand and partly prophesy: ​​then all is vanity until the perfect comes. Eccl.1:3. What profit does a man get from all the labors he toils under the sun? What remains for man in all the labor he labors under the sun? . After the general thought that all is vanity, it begins with people - that in vain they are exhausted in the labor of this world, collecting wealth, teaching children, striving for honors, creating buildings, when, stolen in the midst of their labors by unexpected death, they hear: “foolishly, in this night they will take your soul from you: but what have you prepared, and to whom will it be” (Luke 12:20)? - especially when they take nothing with them from all their labor, but return naked to the ground from which they were taken. Eccl.1:4. A generation passes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. A generation passes and a generation comes: but the earth stands forever. When some die, others are born, and without seeing those you have seen, you begin to see those you have not seen. What is more vanity than this vanity, that the earth, created for people, remains, but man himself, the lord of the earth, instantly decomposes into dust? Otherwise: the Jewish race passes first, and its place is taken by a race gathered from the pagans, and the earth stands until, after the passage of the synagogue, the whole church enters. For when the Gospel has been preached throughout the world, then the end will come. And when the end comes, heaven and earth will pass away. And he said significantly: “The earth is for one hundred centuries, and not for ever.” We praise the Lord not just for one century, but forever and ever. Eccl.1:5. The sun rises, and the sun sets, and hastens to its place where it rises. The sun rises, and the sun sets, and goes to its place, and rises there itself. The sun itself, given into the light of mortals, daily shows its mortality by its rising and setting. Having plunged its fiery disk into the ocean, it returns, by ways unknown to us, to the place from which it came out, and at the end of the night, it again hastily leaves its bedchamber. Instead of what we put according to the edition of the Vulgate: “he goes to his place” in Hebrew there is “soeph”, which Aquila translates είσπνετ, that is, “rests,” and Symmachus and Theodotion translate: “returns,” - that is, the sun returns to its place and where it first came out, rests. Nevertheless, this is said in order to teach through the changes of times and the rising and setting of the heavenly lights that the human race falls and perishes at a time unknown to it. Otherwise: The sun of righteousness, in whose wings there is power, rises for those who fear God, but for false prophets it sets at noon. And having ascended, he draws us to his place. Where? - without a doubt to the Father. For this is why He came, to lift us from earth to heaven and say: “When the Son of man is lifted up, he will draw all things to himself” (John 12:32). And it is not surprising that the Son draws believers to Himself, when the Father Himself draws them to the Son: “for no one,” he says, “can come to Me, except the Father who sent Me, will draw Him” (John 6:44). This sun, which, as we said, sets for some and rises for others, once set for Jacob the patriarch when he left the holy land, and rose again for him when he entered the promised land from Syria (Gen. 28). And Lot, when he left Sodom and arrived at the city to which he was commanded to hurry, he ascended the mountain, and the sun rose over Zoar (Gen. 19). Eccl.1:6. The wind goes to the south and goes to the north, spins and spins as it goes, and the wind returns to its circles. It goes to the south and goes around to the north: the spirit goes around circling and the spirit returns to its circles. From this we can think that during winter the sun moves towards the noonland, and in summer closer to the north, and that its movement begins not with the autumn equinox, but with the first breath of warm winds, when during spring everything begins to grow. Saying: “the spirit goes whirling around and returns to its circles,” Solomon called the sun itself spirit, because it revives, warms and grows and with its movement carries out the annual cycles, as the poet says: “Meanwhile the sun rotates throughout the great year” (Aeneid. III) and in another place: “The year turns in its former tracks” (Georg. II) or that the bright ball of the moon and the stars worlds “The spirit nourishes within, and throughout the members the diffused Mind moves the vastness of the universe, uniting with the great body,” - speaking not about the annual movement of the sun, but about its daily revolutions. For in an obliquely curved line the sun goes from the south to the north and thus returns to the east. Otherwise: the sun, when it moves along the southern side, is closer to the earth, and when it moves along the northern side, it rises higher. Perhaps, therefore, this Sun of Truth is closer to those who are not shackled by the cold of winter and storms of passions (for from the north disasters flare up on earth, Jer. 1:14), and for those who live in the northern part and do not have the summer heat, it walks in the distance, and with its circulation returns to where it came from. For when he draws everyone to Himself and illuminates everyone with His rays, then there is a general restoration, and God appears in everyone. Symmachus translated this passage as follows: “it goes towards noon and goes around to the north; the wind passes through, and through what it has passed around, the wind returns.” Eccl.1:7. All rivers flow into the sea, but the sea does not overflow: to the place from which the rivers flow, they return to flow again. All the streams go to the sea, and the sea is not filled. To the place from which the streams originate, there they return to exit. Some people think that the fresh waters flowing into the sea are either absorbed by the scorching sun from above, or serve as food for the salty waters of the sea. But our Ecclesiastes and the creator of the waters themselves says that they return in hidden veins to the upper reaches of the springs, and from the main nourishing abyss they constantly break through into the sources of flowing waters. The Jews think better that by the name of streams and seas people are metaphorically signified, that they return to the land from which they were taken, and that they are called streams and not rivers because they are soon interrupted, although, however, the earth is not filled with many dead. Further, if we ascend to a higher level, then the muddy waters of passions rightly return to the sea, from where they originate. And, if I’m not mistaken, the word flow without an epithet is never used in a good way. For in the words: “Give me a stream of your sweetness” (Ps. 35:9) this word is used with the epithet of sweetness. And on the contrary, the Savior is betrayed by the stream Kidron (John 18:1), and Elijah, during persecution, hides by the stream Cherith, and it also dries up (1 Kings 17:3). But the insatiable sea is not filled, as in the Proverbs of the daughter of the leech (Prov. 30:15). Eccl.1:8. All things are in labor: a person cannot retell everything; The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear will be filled with hearing. The husband cannot make all the important speeches. The eye will not be satisfied with seeing and the ear will not be filled with hearing. It is difficult to achieve knowledge not only in natural objects, but also in moral objects. Neither the word can explain the causes and nature of things, nor the eye can perceive them as the greatness of the subject requires, nor the ear, with the instruction of a scientist, can achieve the highest knowledge. For if we now see with a mirror in fortune-telling, and partly understand, and partly prophesy: ​​then, consequently, no word can express what we do not know, no eye can discern what is inaccessible to it, no ear can be fulfilled by what it doubts. At the same time, it should be noted that all words (of the Scriptures) are important and are studied with great difficulty - to note against those who think that knowledge of the Scriptures is possible even with idleness and entertainment. Eccl.1:9. What has been is what will be; and what has been done will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. What is what was? Also what will happen. And what is what is done? The same thing will happen. And there's nothing new under the sun. It seems to me that about what he calculated above - about the passage of generations, about the station of the earth, the rising and setting of the sun, the flow of rivers, the vastness of the ocean, and about everything that we learn with thought, or sight, or hearing, now he says in general that there is nothing in the nature of things that did not exist before. For from the beginning of the world, people were born and died, and the earth stood suspended on the waters, and the rising sun went down; and not to mention too much, God the Creator gave it to birds to fly, and to fish to swim, and to the animals of the earth to walk, and to creeping things to reptile. The comic poet expressed something similar to this thought: “Nothing has been said that has not been said before” (Terent. In Prolog. Eunuchi). Therefore, my teacher Donatus, when explaining this poem, said: “Let those who said ours before us perish.” If nothing new can be said in the realm of the word, then all the more nothing new can be said in the order of the world, which was so perfect from the beginning that God rested from his works on the seventh day. In one book I read: if everything that was created under the sun was in past centuries before it appeared now, and man was created after the creation of the sun, then it follows that man was before he appeared under the sun. But this conclusion does not hold, because in this case it can be said that cattle, insects, and all small and great animals existed before the sky was created. However, perhaps the objector will answer this that from what follows it is clear that Ecclesiastes is not talking about other animals, but about man, since he says: “there is nothing new under the sun that someone has talked about and said: this is new.” It is not animals who speak, but only man, and if animals said that this is new, then the position that there is nothing new under the sun would be destroyed. Eccl.1:10. There is something about which they say: “look, this is new”; but this was already in the centuries that were before us. Is there a word about which one could say: look, this is new: it already existed in the centuries that were before us. Symmachus translated this more clearly; “Do you think that there is someone who could say: look, this is new, but it already existed in the century that was before us.” This is in accordance with the previous one - that there is nothing new in the world, and there is no one who could exist and say: “this is new,” because everything that he considered possible to point out as new already existed in previous centuries. But we must not think that signs, wonders, and many things that are happening again in the world by the will of God already happened in previous centuries, and that Epicurus is right when he asserts that over countless periods the same thing has been happening in the same places and through the same figures. In this case, Judas was a traitor many times, and Christ often suffered for us, and everything else that has happened and the future will be repeated in the same way in the same periods. But it should be recognized that in the foreknowledge and predestination of God, what is about to happen has already happened. For before the foundation of the world the elect in Christ were in former ages. Eccl.1:11. There is no memory of the past; and those who come after will have no memory of what will happen. There is no memory of the former, and what will be later will not be remembered by those who will be in a later time. Just as our past is covered in oblivion, so those who are born will not know what is now, or what will be; all this they will pass away in silence and all this will be hidden as if it did not exist, and this saying will be fulfilled: “vanity of vanities and all is vanity.” And the Seraphim cover their faces and legs because the first and the last are covered. And in relation to the translation of the Seventy Interpreters, who stated: “there is no remembrance for the first, and for the last, who will be; there will be no remembrance for them with those who will be in the last time,” according to the Gospel, the meaning is that the first in this age will be the last (Matthew 20:16). since God, as good and merciful, remembers the least, as well as everyone, and to those whose vices deserve to be the last, He will not give the same glory that He will give to those who, having humbled themselves, desired to be the last in the world. Therefore, it is further said: “There is no memory of the wise with the fool forever.” Eccl.1:12. I, Ecclesiastes, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. So far the introduction speaks of everyone in general; Now Solomon turns to himself and shows who he was and by what experience he knew everything. Jews say that this book was written by Solomon at a time when he repented that, relying on his wisdom and wealth, he had angered God through women. Eccl.1:13. and I gave my heart to search and test with wisdom everything that is done under heaven: this difficult task God gave to the sons of men so that they would practice in it. And I gave my heart to testing and exploring in the wisdom of everything that is done under the sun. God gave this evil occupation to the sons of men so that they would engage in it. The word “anian” was translated by Aquila, Seventy and Theodotion in agreement with the word: περισπασμόν, which the Latin translator rendered as the word “entertainment”, because the human mind is torn by being entertained by various worries. And Symmachus translated this with the word ασχολίαν, that is, “occupation.” Since this word is mentioned very often in this book, whether we translate it by the word “occupation”, or “entertainment”, or in some other way, everything should be consistent with the above meaning. So, Ecclesiastes first of all devoted his mind to the search for wisdom, and, stretching beyond what was permitted, he wanted to find out the reasons and reasons why children were possessed by a demon, why storms consumed both the righteous and the wicked during shipwrecks; whether this and the like happened by chance, or by the decree of God; and if by chance, then where is God’s Providence? Striving, he says, to know this, I saw that God has given people excessive care and a painful desire for many different things, that they want to comprehend what is not allowed to be known. And he first perfectly indicated the reason, and then said that this occupation was given by God, just as it says in the Epistle to the Romans: “For this reason God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts into uncleanness” (Rom. 1:24) and again: “For this reason God gave them up in the passion of dishonor” (Rom. 1:26) and then: “For this reason God gave them up in an unskilled mind, to do wicked things.” (Rom. 1:28), and to the Thessalonians: “For this reason God will send upon them the power of flattery” (2 Thess. 2:11). Just as in these passages above the reasons are indicated why they are given over either to the passions of wickedness, or to a sinful sense, or to the desires of their hearts, or what they have done for which they receive the effect of error, so in this place God gave people evil entertainment so that they would amuse themselves in it, because they had previously done this or that with their own arbitrariness and their own will. Eccl.1:14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, everything is vanity and vexation of spirit! I saw all the things that happened under the sun, and this is all the vanity and dreaming of the spirit. We are forced by necessity to talk about Jewish words more often than we want. For we can know the meaning only by understanding it from the words. The word "rooth" was translated by Aquila and Theodotion as νομήν, and by Symmachus as βόσκησιν. Seventy Interpreters translated not the Hebrew, but the Syriac word, putting προαίρεσιν. Both νομή and βόσκησις mean “grazing,” and προαίρεσις means “volition” rather than “dreaming.” It says here that everyone does what he wants and seems right to himself, and that people, with their free will, strive for different things, that everything under the sun is vanity when we mutually disagree with each other in the definition of good and bad. The Jew, under whose guidance I read the Holy Scriptures, told me that the above word “rooth” in this place rather means “languor” and “malice” than grazing and arbitrariness - not in the sense of evil, as opposed to good, but in the sense of what is written about in the Gospel: “his wickedness is sufficient for the day” (Matthew 6:34). The Greeks more expressively call this word κακουχία, and the meaning of this place is this: I saw everything that was happening in the world and found nothing other than vanity and care, that is, the languor of the spirit, with which the soul is depressed from various worries. Eccl.1:15. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is not there cannot be counted. The twisted cannot become beautiful, and the damage cannot be calculated. He who is crooked cannot become beautiful except after correction. Only one who has deviated from straightness is called crooked. It is against heretics who recognize certain beings who do not accept correction. Since the damage, that is, what is not there, cannot be calculated, therefore only the firstborn of Israel were counted, and the women, slaves, and children and the people who came out of Egypt, as not a replacement, but a loss to the army, were left without calculation. The following meaning is also possible: in the totality of this world there is so much evil that the world can hardly return to a completely good state, and cannot easily regain the order and perfection in which it was originally created. Otherwise: while everyone is restored to an innocent state through repentance, only the devil will remain in his error. For everything created under the sun is perverted by his arbitrariness and the spirit of malice, when, at his suggestion, sins are added to sins. And finally: the number of those deceived by him and stolen by him from the flock of the Lord is so great that it cannot be counted. Eccl.1:16. I spoke to my heart like this: behold, I have become exalted and gained wisdom more than all who were before me over Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge. I spoke to my heart like this: behold, I have become exalted and gained wisdom more than all those who were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge. Solomon was not wiser than Abraham and Moses and other saints, but wiser than those who were before him in Jerusalem. And in the books of Kings we read that Solomon was gifted with much wisdom and asked God for this gift above others. So, the eye of a pure heart contemplates much wisdom and knowledge. He did not say: I expressed much wisdom and knowledge, but said: my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge; for we cannot express everything we know. Eccl.1:17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and stupidity: I learned that this too is languor of the spirit; And I gave up my heart in order to know wisdom and knowledge, error and stupidity: I learned that this too is the shepherding of the wind, or the vexation of the spirit. The opposite is explained by the opposite. The first wisdom is not to have foolishness. And only those who understand it can avoid stupidity. That is why a lot of harmful things have been created in existing things, so that by avoiding them we learn wisdom. So, Solomon equally strove to comprehend wisdom and knowledge, and on the other hand, error and stupidity, so that in striving for one and in evading the other, his true wisdom was tested. But even in this, as indeed, according to him, he fed the winds and could not comprehend the perfect truth. Regarding the languor of the spirit, or the shepherding of the wind, which is very often spoken of in this book, what has been said above will be sufficient. Eccl.1:18. because in much wisdom there is much sorrow; and whoever increases knowledge increases sorrow. For in the abundance of wisdom is the abundance of indignation: and he who adds wisdom adds grief. The more someone comprehends wisdom, the more indignant he is that he is subject to vices and is far from the virtues to which he strives (Wis. 6:7). And since the strong will endure severe torment, and to whomever is entrusted with more, the more will be exacted from him, then he who applies wisdom also applies sorrow, is distressed by sorrow for God and grieves over his sins. Therefore, the Apostle says: “Whoever makes me glad, let him accept sorrow from me” (2 Cor. 2:2). But perhaps we can also understand here that a wise man grieves that wisdom is hidden in such distance and depth, and is not communicated to the mind in the same way as light is to the sight, but is achieved with some torment, unbearable labor, constant deepening and study. Since reading bl. Jerome differs from the Greek, Slavic and Russian translations, and yet his interpretation is applied to this his own reading: then when translating the interpretations of Blessed. Jerome on both this and all other books of the Old and New Testaments, the editors consider it necessary to quote the explained text, as literally as possible, “according to the reading of Bl. Jerome." Note editors.