tween Proverbs and Canticles, as in the A.V. See Bible. It is the fourth of the five Migilloth (q. v.) or Rolls, as they are called b}' the Jews, being appoint- ed to be read at the Feast of Tabernacles. 'Hw form of tlie book is poctico-dhlactic, without the sublimity of the beautiful parallelism and rhythm which charac- terize the older poetic effusions of the inspired writ- ings. The absence of vigor and charm is manifest even in the grandest portion of this book (xii, 1-7), where the sacred writer rises above his usual level. (See generally, Bergst, in Eichhorn's Bibliotheh, x, 955-84 ; Paulus, in his Nenes Repertorium, i, 201-65 ; Zirkel, Ueh. der Prediger, "Wiirzb, 1792 ; Umbreit, Co- heleth scepticus, Gott. 1820; Stiebriz, Vindicice Solomo- nis, Halle, 17G0 ; Henzi, Eccles. argumenfum, Dorpat, 1827 ; Muhlert, Pahiogr. Beitrcige, p. 182 sq. ; Ilart- mann, in the Wien. Zeitschr. i, 29, 71 ; Ewald, Ueb. d. Prediger, Gott. 1826 ; Umbreit, in the Stud. u. Krit. 1849; Bruch,\Veiskcits-Leh7-e der Uebrder, Strasburg, 1851.) See Solomon.
I. Title.— Tha Heb. name is rblnp, Kohe'leth, and is evidentlj' taken from the designation which the writer himself assumes (ch. i, 2, 2 ; vii, 27 ; xii, 8, 9, 10; Sept. iicK\i]r!ia(7ri}c,\v.\g. ecclesiastes, Anih.Yexs. "preacher"'). It is the participle of Pllp, lahul' (cog- nate with ?1p, voice, Greek KaXiio, Eng. call), wliich properly signifies to call tigether a religious assembly (hence ?l^p, nsflp, a congregation). The apparent anomaly of the feminine termination ri indicates that the abstract noun has been transferred from the office to the person holding it (so the Arab, caliph, etc. ; see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 1199, 1200), and has thus be- come capable of use as a masculine proper name, a change of meaning of which we find otiier instances in Sophereth (Neh. vii, 57), Puchereth (Ezra ii, 57) ; and hence, with tlie single exception of Eccles. vii, 27, the noun, notwithstanding its form, is used throughout in the masculine. Ewald, however {Poet. Biich. iv, 189), connects the feminine termination with the noun iTl^n (wisdom), understood, and supposes a poetic license in the use of the word as a kind of symbolic proper name, appealing to Prov. xxx, 1 ; xxxi, 1, as examples of a like usage. As connected with the root Ptlp, the word has been applied to one who speaks in an assem- bly, and there is, to say the least, a tolerable agree- ment in favor of this interpretation. Thus we have the comment of the Midrash, stating that the writer thus designates liimself " because his words were spo- ken in the assembly" (quoted in Preston's Eccksiastes, note on i, 1); the rendering 'EKKXriariaaTtic by the Sept. ; the adoption of this title by Jerome (Pnrf. in Eccl.'), as meaning '■'■qui en turn, i. e. ecclesiam coigrc' (/at, qu<ni nos nuncujiare possvmus Concionatarem ;'' the use of " Prediger" bj' Luther, of " Preacher" in the A.V. On tlie other hand, taking PH)^ in the sense of collecting things, not of summoning persons, and led perhaps by his inability to see in the book itself anj' greater unity of design than in the chapters of Proverbs, Grotius (in Eccles. i, 1) has suggested ^vvn- 6i)otaT)]<: (compiler) as a better equivalent. In this he has been followed b_v Herder and Jahn, and INlendcls- sohn has adopted tiie same rendering (notes on i, 1, and vii, 27, in Preston), seeing in it the statement partly that the writer had compiled the sayings of wise men who had gone before him, partly that he was, by an inductive process, gathering trutlis f n m the facts of a wide experience. The title of the book, however, indicates that the author did not write only for a literary public, but that he had in view the whole congregation of the Lord ; and that his doctrine was not confined within the narrow bounds of a school, but belonged to the Church in its whole extent (conip. Psa. xlix, 2-4). Solomon, who in 1 Kings viii is described as gathering (il^p^) the people to hold communion
ECCLESIASTES
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ECCLESIASTES
with the Most High in the place which he erected for this purpose, is here again represented as the tjatherer (rbnjT) of the people to the assembly of God. It nuist, however, be I)orne in mind that, tliough Solomon is animated bj' and represents Wisdom, he does not lose his individuality-. Hence he sometimes describes his own experience (comp. i, 16, 17 ; ii, 9, 12 ; vii, 23, etc.), and sometimes utters the words of Wisdom, whose or- gan he is, just as the apostles are sometimes the or- gans of the Holy Ghost (comp. Acts xv, 28).
Against the common rendering of TPilp hy preacher or Eccksiastes, which is supported by Desvosux, Gese- nius, Knobel, Herzfeld, Stuart, etc., it has been urged : (1.) The verb ^Op does not properly include the idea of preachwff: such, however, would naturally be its derived import, inasmuch as popular assemblies are usually convened for the purpose of being addressed. (2.) It ascrilies to Solomon the office of preacher, which is nowhere mentioned in the Bible ; it is too modern a title, and is inconsistent with his character, if not with the contents of the book : this, however, only applies to the title in its modern sense, and not to the above generic view. (3.) It destroys the connection between the design of the book and the import of this S3'mbolic name : this again depends upon the preconception as to the design of the l)Ook ; the import, as above ex- plained, is not unsuitable. Moreover, a. Coheleth is neither a name of rank nor of office, but simply de- scribes the act of gathering the people together, and can, therefore, not come within the rule which the ad- vocates of the rendering prearher or Ecck'siastes are obliged to urge. b. The construction of the feminihe verb with it in vii, 27, is incompatible with this view. c. Abstracts are never formed from the active parti- ciple; and, cl. There is not a single instance to be found where a concrete is first made an abstract, and then again taken in a personal sense. These objections are too mi- nute to 1)0 of much force, and are overruled bj' the pe- culiar use and application of this word, which occurs nowhere else.