Recognition · No. 9
The king got the sigh. The poor man saved the city.
Most readers arrive with one line, vanity of vanities, and a weary king who says it. Some add the song about a time for everything. That is the shorthand. It is not who the book puts on the page.
In chapter 9 the Preacher tells of a little city with few men in it. A great king besieges it. A poor wise man saves it by his wisdom, and then no man remembers that same poor man. In chapter 4 the oppressed weep and have no comforter, and the text says so twice. In chapter 5 the labouring man sleeps well while the rich man lies awake. The Preacher also says there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool, and the book that says it carries no author's name.
The recognition is not that the Preacher despairs. It is that the culture kept the king's mood and forgot the poor man who did the saving.
What most readers assume
“A rich king's sigh that nothing matters: vanity of vanities, all is empty, and the famous voice is the only one the popular summary keeps.”
What Qoheleth actually stages
Most readers name Ecclesiastes for one line, vanity of vanities, and for the king who says it. The book also names a little city under siege, a poor wise man who saves it, and the fact that no one remembered him. It names the oppressed who had no comforter, and the labouring man whose sleep is sweet. The recognition is not that the Preacher gave up. It is that we kept the king's sigh and forgot who did the work.
Ecclesiastes · Qoheleth
The popular summary names the king and his sigh. The book names the poor man who saved the city, and the oppressed who had no comforter.
Today the credit goes to whoever gave the keynote, the speaker who sighs that nothing lasts, the founder with the quote on the wall. Ecclesiastes names the poor man who saved the town, the oppressed with no one to comfort them, the worker who sleeps well, and an author who left no name.
Common Questions
Search questions this recognition installment answers about Ecclesiastes.
Who does Ecclesiastes want named?
Not only the king who says vanity. The Preacher presents himself as the son of David, king in Jerusalem, but much of the book looks at other people. The oppressed weep and have no comforter. The labouring man sleeps well, whether he eats little or much. A poor wise man saves a little city and is forgotten. None of them is given a name.
Why does recognition matter in Ecclesiastes?
Because the book is about what memory keeps. In chapter 1 there is no remembrance of former things, and in chapter 2 there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool. Chapter 9 then gives an example. The poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard. Recognition arrives when you see that the book does not only complain that memory fails. It shows who the failure falls on.
Who was the poor wise man in Ecclesiastes?
The text does not say. It gives no name, no city, and no date. A great king besieges a little city with few men in it, a poor wise man delivers it by his wisdom, and no man remembers him. Some readers take it as a parable and some as a remembered event. Either way, the Preacher says wisdom is better than strength, and that the poor man's wisdom is despised anyway.
Does vanity mean meaningless in Ecclesiastes?
Not quite. The Hebrew word is hevel, which means breath or vapour: something you can see and cannot hold. The King James translation chose vanity, and many later versions chose meaningless. The same book tells the reader to cast bread upon the waters and to give a portion to seven, and also to eight. That is not advice from someone who thinks nothing matters. It is advice from someone who knows nothing can be kept.
Did Solomon write Ecclesiastes?
The book never names him. It says the words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Tradition gave it to Solomon, but most modern scholars place it much later, around the third century BCE. The Hebrew name Qoheleth means something like Assembler or Teacher. So the book that says nobody remembers the wise is itself an unsigned work.
Who gets the credit for the song Turn! Turn! Turn!?
The words are Ecclesiastes 3, in the King James translation. Pete Seeger adapted them as a song in 1959 and added one line of his own at the end. The Byrds took it to number one in the United States in 1965. The credit names Seeger. The writer of the original words stays unnamed, as in the book.