Footnotes

1. Ecclesiastes 1:1 The author is introduced under the name of Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth, i.e., a person whose function is to speak in the assembly (ekklesia in Greek, qahal in Hebrew). His editor has come up with a happy formula to sum up the author’s thinking (Vanity of vanities . . .); it is so good that he will repeat it as a conclusion. And, since the Book represents a new line of thought, he puts it on the lips of Solomon—without naming him but using the phrase son of David.