EmpiricalGod

Hello I would like to explore the Book of Ecclesiastes. I recently read it for the first time, and I am fascinated at how different it is from all the other books of the Old and New Testament.
I think more importantly, I want to understand the belief of the Jews of the times and what was the authors understanding of the events after death. Through out reading the dozen chapters, I got the impression that the author holds the belief that all men, just end up rotting in the ground, from dust to dust , and everything we do ends up being meaningless and in the end all men and animals have the same fate.
However the last chapter appeared to give slightly different views, and I didn’t quite understand the final position of the author.

First I present this snippet, illustrating the general theme of the book.
Ecclesiastes 9:
1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, [a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good man,
so with the sinner;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope [b] —even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5 For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even the memory of them is forgotten.



But when coming to the end of the book, I read these following verses:

Ecclesiastes 12:
6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the well,
7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. [a]
"Everything is meaningless!"

My first question would be, what is the understanding of the of the word “spirit” in verse seven? Does it pertain to some sort of afterlife? Previous verses of the book suggest it doesn’t. So what does spirit actually mean? Is it just something the Jews believed made inanimate into animate from god?
And finally the ending verses:
Ecclesiastes 12:
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
First like to say that I read on wikipedia that some scholars believe these verses and a few others are later editions. But are there any other opinions on the subject? What judgement are we talking about? How this fall together with everything else that was expressed in the book?

HaRaAYaH

Are you reading the text as is or with a commentary? In Hebrew or in English? If you want to know the Jewish view, pick up a text with commentary and you will have a better idea of what's behind the text from a Jewish point of view.

JEST2ASK

Could you recomend a basic (intro level) commentary?

HaRaAYaH

I'll pull mine off of the sehlf later today and have a look and then I'll ask around & get back to you...

mens_sana

Peter Machinist's annotations of the book in The Jewish Study Bible (or via: amazon.co.uk) (JPS Tanakh Translation, ed. by Adele Berlin & Marc Zvi Brettler; Oxford University Press) will give you an abbreviated commentary. Your local library (main branch) might have it or you can pick up used copies through Amazon. The annotations are good throughout, making it a nice addition to anyone's library.

EmpiricalGod

I am simply reading without commentary from biblegateway.com in English.
I would be itnerested to read the Jewish view, but do not know where to find a scholarly jewish view on the subject. Any online recommendations?

HaRaAYaH

This is the commentary I have. It's pretty basic. It has a verse by verse Hebrew/English translation and a nice commentary.

Toto

There's a better price on Amazon (or via: amazon.co.uk).

XKV8R

there was early dispute about ecclesiastes (hebrew: qohelet) being unclean. here are some early jewish comments on ecclesiastes:

from the mishnah:
M. Yadaim III 5: "All the Holy Scriptures render the hands unclean. The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes render the hands unclean. R. Judah says: The Song of Songs renders the hands unclean, but about Ecclesiastes there is dissension. R. Jose says: Ecclesiastes does not render the hands unclean, and about the Song of Songs there is dissension. R. Simeon says: Ecclesiastes is one of the things about which the School of Shammai adopted the more lenient, and the School of Hillel the more stringent ruling. R. Simeon b. Azzai said: I have heard a tradition from the seventy-two elders on the day when they made R. Eleazar b. Azariah head of the college [of Sages], that the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes both render the hands unclean. R. Akiba said: God forbid! - no man in Israel ever disputed about the Song of Songs [that he should say] that it does not render the hands unclean, for all the ages are not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel; for all the Writings are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies. And if aught was in dispute the dispute was about Ecclesastes alone."

and from the talmud:
B. Megillah 7a: "R. Meir says that [the scroll of] Koheleth does not render the hands unclean, and that about the Song of Songs there is a difference of opinion. R. Jose says that the Song of Songs renders the hands unclean, and about Koheleth there is a difference of opinion. R. Simeon says that Koheleth is one of those matters in regard to which Beth Shammai were more lenient and Beth Hillel more stringent, but Ruth and the Song of Songs and Esther [certainly] make the hands unclean! - Samuel concurred with R. Joshua. It has been taught: R. Simeon b. Menasia said: Koheleth does not render the hands unclean because it contains only the wisdom of Solomon."

for further reading:

"Ecclesiastes as Wisdom: Consulting Early Interpreters"
by Katharine J. Dell in Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 44, Fasc. 3 (Jul., 1994), pp. 301-329

jstor has the full article.

HaRaAYaH

And that means???? I don't think everyone follows what you are saying....