Ecclesiastes 1–5
The Holy Bible interpreted through Divine Principle insight and the words of True Father.
This study page presents the first five chapters of Ecclesiastes with commentary in the cleaner house style you liked in the Proverbs sample fileciteturn12file0. Commentary is attached where the verses clearly connect with Divine Principle themes such as the fall, man’s separation from God’s original ideal, the vanity of life lived apart from Heaven’s purpose, the created order, human responsibility, time in providence, and the need to fear God above earthly striving.
1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
1:3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? 1:4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. 1:5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 1:6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. 1:7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full...
1:8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be... and there is no new thing under the sun.
1:12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 1:13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven... 1:14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 1:15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
1:16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom... 1:17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. 1:18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
2:1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth... therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2:2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?
2:4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: 2:5 I made me gardens and orchards... 2:7 I got me servants and maidens... 2:8 I gathered me also silver and gold... 2:9 So I was great... 2:10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them...
2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought... and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
2:12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly... 2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. 2:14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all. 2:15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me...
2:18 Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun... 2:21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom... yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. 2:24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. 2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy...
Pleasure, achievement, wealth, beauty, and possession cannot heal the fallen heart. Divine Principle strongly resonates here because man lost the center of true joy in God, so even abundance becomes vanity if pursued as substitute fulfillment.
Wisdom is better than folly, yet both still remain under mortality. This is an important distinction: relative goodness matters, but without restoration through Heaven’s providence, even wisdom under the sun is incomplete.
The grief over labor and inheritance reflects the instability of fallen ownership. True Father often emphasized that what is not centered on God cannot be securely possessed or transmitted in peace.
The chapter ends by reintroducing God as the source of true enjoyment, wisdom, and joy. This is critical. Ecclesiastes is not teaching despair, but exposing the vanity of life separated from Heaven and pointing back to receiving from God’s hand.
3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up... 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart...
3:12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever... 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there...
3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts... 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
The times and seasons language strongly resonates with Divine Principle’s teaching about providential time periods. Heaven works through order, sequence, growth, and appointed ages. History is not random, even when man experiences it painfully.
“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” is deeply significant. Creation and providence both have timing. Fallen impatience distorts what Heaven is unfolding. True Father often emphasized that if one misses Heaven’s time, suffering increases.
Doing good, rejoicing properly, and receiving life as gift all reflect a humble response to God’s sovereignty rather than arrogant control.
Ecclesiastes honestly names the corruption of judgment under the sun. Divine Principle likewise teaches that fallen human society cannot establish full justice apart from God’s direct providence. Yet God shall judge both righteous and wicked in His time.
4:1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun... and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter...
4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 4:5 The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh. 4:6 Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
4:7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. 4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second... yet is there no end of all his labour...
4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. 4:10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow... 4:12 And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
4:13 Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
The oppression and tears under the sun show the world as it became after the fall, not the world as God originally intended it. Divine Principle strongly resonates with this lament because history became one of domination, sorrow, and the misuse of power.
Competition driven by envy and labor without relational meaning are exposed as vanity. True Father often warned against individualistic striving that loses God, family, and public purpose.
“Two are better than one” is not just practical advice. Divine Principle strongly resonates because God’s original ideal is relational: man and woman, family, and unity centered on God. Isolation is not the final form of life.
Leadership without humility becomes foolish. The inability to be admonished is a major fallen trait. Heaven can work with the humble, even if poor; pride ruins even the throne.
5:1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools... 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth...
5:4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it... 5:5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 5:6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin...
5:8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter...
5:10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase...
5:18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour... 5:19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof... this is the gift of God. 5:20 For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
Ecclesiastes turns here to reverence in the house of God. One must be ready to hear. Divine Principle strongly resonates because the central human failure is not only bad action but refusal to receive Heaven’s word with obedient heart.
Vows before God are serious. True Father often stressed that promises made before Heaven create real responsibility. Speech before God is not casual.
The persistence of oppression again shows the world under the dominion of fallen systems. This is not Heaven’s original order.
The unsatisfied love of silver shows that desire detached from God can never fill the heart. Fallen appetite multiplies emptiness rather than curing it.
The chapter closes by restoring balance: joy in labor and possessions is possible when received as God’s gift rather than worshiped as god. This is not materialism, but proper order under Heaven.
“Vanity of vanities” describes life viewed only “under the sun,” that is, life measured within fallen history apart from God’s original purpose. Divine Principle strongly resonates with this because after the fall, human labor, culture, and achievement cannot by themselves restore the lost ideal or answer the deepest question of profit before Heaven.
The cycles of nature continue, yet fallen man feels trapped in repetition. This is not because creation is meaningless, but because man is out of order with creation’s original center. Genesis shows a purposeful creation; Ecclesiastes shows the experience of man cut off from its true meaning.
“That which is crooked cannot be made straight” expresses the frustration of trying to solve the fallen condition by human wisdom alone. True Father often taught that man cannot repair the fall by cleverness or worldly greatness, but only by returning to Heaven’s word and providence.
Knowledge without restoration increases sorrow, because it reveals the contradiction between God’s ideal and man’s actual condition. Wisdom is needed, but wisdom alone is not yet the kingdom.