Eclesiastes 1
Didymus the Blind · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Eclesiastes 1:1
Solomon, who here appears as Ecclesiastes, that is, who preaches what is appropriate for the church, is the son of David. He came after Saul, whose rule was destroyed and terminated. Solomon is son of this king David in two ways.… The first is according to nature and lineage; the second is according to his teaching. One has to understand Paul in this [second] way when he says, "For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel." David thus was Solomon's father in both respects: according to nature—Solomon was his heir and "David begot Solomon"—but he was also his father in terms of instruction. David was wise as only few are—especially wise regarding God.…But Solomon also became wise in a way that few achieve: he became wise through the wisdom [he received] and through his human lineage. According to both ways Solomon thus was the son of David. But especially in terms of his words as Ecclesiastes is he the son of David, not so much according to nature as according to instruction. For the sons of the wise beget wise people, since they are wise themselves. But someone who is father of a son according to nature does not necessarily become a father again. Many were sons and did not become fathers. The sons according to the Spirit, however, become fathers themselves. — COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 5:2
Eclesiastes 1:1
Question: [Are the] words of Ecclesiastes said by the author personally?Answer: Actually the Spirit is the author of the divinely inspired Scriptures. The Spirit inspires so that words are expressed, but the wise man is also involved. For the Spirit has not himself invisibly written the letter and put down the text, but he breathes it into the soul. Either the real author is Solomon, or some [other] wise men have written it. Maybe we should opt for the latter so that nobody may say that the speaker talks about himself. — COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 7:9
Eclesiastes 1:2
There is a difference between vanities; there are those that are especially so, and others that are not.…Question: [Does Ecclesiastes speak] about one and the same [kind of vanity]? Answer: About both, about the things that are just vanity as well as about those that are a vanity of vanities. Both the things that most clearly belong to the sphere of vanity and the less obvious vanities are altogether vain in comparison with actual truth. The newborn, the little child and the boy are imperfect. Of course, they are imperfect in comparison with an adolescent, and they are all imperfect in comparison with a man.… Question: Does he not mean by "vanity of vanities" the visible and the perceivable? Answer: Yes, but the layperson and the astronomer do not perceive the sun in the same way. The perception of the sun by an astronomer and by a scientist is far inferior to the seeing of the invisible God and it is inferior to the knowledge that comes from God. — COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 10:13
Eclesiastes 1:3
Aqueles que são ricos em coisas que são valorizadas no âmbito do natural não ganham nada. Eles não ganham longevidade. Ricos e pobres estão na mesma situação: passam pela vida rapidamente e não ficam muito tempo. Assim, “de todo o trabalho que eles fazem sob o sol” não se ganha nada, nenhum aumento nas qualidades naturais. Mas quem trabalha e se esforça por coisas que levam ao eterno e ao invisível ganha algo: um ser humano torna-se um deus, um ser humano incerto torna-se um ser forte, um covarde torna-se corajoso. - COMENTÁRIO SOBRE ECLESIASTES 11:18
Eclesiastes 1:4
The sun has existed since it was created and will exist and be one and the same as long as God wants it. But if I say … that humankind remains forever, I do not mean one and the same human being but the whole succession of generations. The same is true for other mortal beings and plants.… One generation goes and one generation comes. The generation that goes is destroyed by death; the one that comes is the one that is born. — COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
Eclesiastes 1:5
The sun of righteousness rises in the soul. The beginning of its rise is preparatory. It is a preparatory enlightenment. But when it circles around the whole soul and enlightens it altogether so that nothing is outside the light any more, then the soul is in perfect enlightenment. For often it sets in order to rise again. Sunset and sunrise are in accordance with its progress. And sunset and sunrise are united with respect to its location. The second enlightenment means sunset with respect to the previous enlightenment, but it means sunrise with respect to the enlightenment now beginning. — COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 13:12