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EcbatanaAid to Bible Understanding
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but the cuneiform texts imply that there was only one city of the name, and Takht-i-Suleiman is the Gazaca of classical geography.”
The story about Ecbatana’s seven concentric walls told by the Greek historian Herodotus (of the fifth century B.C.E.) may be at least somewhat imaginative, for the later Greek historian Polybius (who lived possibly between 205 and 125 B.C.E.) said that the Ecbatana of his time was unwalled though its acropolis or citadel was very well fortified. At one time Cyrus’ citadel stood in a section of modern Hamadan called Sar Qalʽa (meaning “cliff castle”), where portions of foundations and walls of ancient palace towers have been unearthed by excavators, these finds dating back to the days of Median and Persian (Achaemenian) rulers. Various ancient items have been discovered in Hamadan, among them silver and gold tablets bearing inscriptions of Persian King Darius I. Though magnificent palaces and temples once stood in Ecbatana, unearthing their remains would require the removal of many present-day buildings, and such major archaeological work has not been done in Hamadan.
Alexander the Great took Ecbatana from the Persians in 330 B.C.E. It thereafter came into the control of the Seleucidae, Antiochus the Great and the Parthians, whose rulers again used it as a summer capital. Ecbatana’s subsequent history included control by the Sassanians (who used it as their capital) and by Islamic conquerors, as well as the city’s survival of the Mongol conquest of the thirteenth century C.E.
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EcclesiastesAid to Bible Understanding
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ECCLESIASTES
[Heb., Qo·heʹleth, congregator, convener, assembler].
The Hebrew name fittingly describes the role of the king in a theocratic government such as Israel enjoyed. (Eccl. 1:1, 12) It was the responsibility of the ruler to hold the dedicated people of God together in faithfulness to their true King and God. (1 Ki. 8:1-5, 41-43, 66) For that reason, whether a king was good or bad for the nation was determined by whether he led the nation in the worship of Jehovah or not. (2 Ki. 16:1-4; 18:1-6) The congregator, who was Solomon, had already done much congregating of Israel and their companions, the temporary residents, to the temple. In this book he sought to congregate God’s people away from the vain and fruitless works of this world to the works worthy of the God to whom they as a nation were dedicated. The name used in our English Bibles is taken from the wrong translation of Qo·heʹleth in the Greek Septuagint, namely, Ek·kle·si·a·stesʹ (Ecclesiastes), meaning “one who sits or speaks in an ecclesia; a member thereof.”
WRITER
There was only one “son of David,” namely, Solomon, who was “king over Israel in Jerusalem” (Eccl. 1:1, 12), for kings after Solomon did not reign over all Israel. Solomon was the king so well known for his surpassing wisdom. (Eccl. 1:16; 1 Ki. 4:29-34) He was a builder. (Eccl. 2:4-6; 1 Ki. 6:1; 7:1-8) He was a composer of proverbs. (Eccl. 12:9; 1 Ki. 4:32) Solomon was renowned for his wealth. (Eccl. 2:4-9; 1 Ki. 9:17-19; 10:4-10, 14-29) Qo·heʹleth is in the feminine gender for the reason that Solomon, because of his God-given wisdom, was used as a symbol of wisdom as if he were wisdom personified; and the Hebrew word for “wisdom” is feminine. Therefore, Solomon applies the term to himself. Since the book mentions the building program of Solomon, it must have been written after that time but before he “began to do what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah.” (1 Ki. 11:6) The book was therefore written before 1000 B.C.E., in Jerusalem. That Solomon would be one of the best qualified men to write the book is supported by the fact that he was not only the richest but probably one of the best informed kings of his day, his sailors and tradesmen as well as visiting dignitaries bringing news and knowledge of people of other lands.—1 Ki. 9:26-28; 10:23-25, 28, 29.
AUTHENTICITY
Qo·heʹleth, or Ecclesiastes, is accepted as canonical by both the Jewish and the Christian churches. It is in agreement with other portions of the Bible that treat the same subjects. For example, it agrees with Genesis on man’s being made up of a body composed of the dust of the ground and having the spirit or life force and the breath that sustains it from God. (Eccl. 3:20, 21; 12:7; Gen. 2:7; 7:22; Isa. 42:5) It affirms the Bible teaching that man was created upright but willfully chose to disobey God. (Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 1:31; 3:17; Deut. 32:4, 5) It acknowledges God as the Creator. (Eccl. 12:1; Gen. 1:1) It concurs with the rest of the Bible as to the state of the dead. (Eccl. 9:5, 10; Gen. 3:19; Ps. 6:5; 115:17; John 11:11-14; Rom. 6:23) It strongly advocates the worship and the fear of God. It uses the expression ha-ʼElo·himʹ, “the true God,” more than thirty times. The equivalent for the name Jehovah is found in the Syriac Version and Jewish Targum of the book at Ecclesiastes 2:24. While some claim that the book contradicts itself, this is only because they do not see that the book many times sets forth the common view as opposed to the view that reflects divine wisdom. (Compare Ecclesiastes 1:18; 7:11, 12.) So one must read with a view to getting the sense, and keep in mind the theme of the book.
CONTENTS
From its contents, the book could be called “The Congregator on Works Vain and Worth While.” In the first chapter Solomon describes the stability and continuity of the cycles of the universe, things man relies on for steadiness, balance and meaning to life, and for life itself, as compared with the transitoriness of man. With such endless repetition of natural processes and man’s short life, the appearance from a natural man’s standpoint is that all is vanity. In his search Solomon saw that mankind is engaged in a calamitous occupation and that things crooked in this system of things cannot be made straight, and many are the things that are wanting. Solomon’s increase in knowledge of things merely increased his vexation and pain.—Eccl. chap. 1.
Solomon then turned to the pursuit of joy and cheerfulness by enjoying material things of which he had an abundance—possessing houses, vineyards, gardens and pools, having servants of all kinds, along with much silver and gold. He employed singers and tried out everything that his heart desired that would bring rejoicing. But then he saw that the same thing that happened to the stupid one would happen to him with all his wisdom. With this viewpoint he hated life and the work of a materialistic nature that he was doing, not the works he had done in temple building and in promoting worship of God. It turned out to be a saddening experiment, “to lay hold on folly until I could see what good there was to the sons of mankind in what they did.” It hurt him to realize that he would leave behind all his possessions to an heir who might be foolish in the use of them. Solomon had enjoyed the best of everything, but he found that the thing God has given to man is for him to enjoy living and the fruits of his work, not the course Solomon tried, the work of pleasure seeking through materialism. On the other hand, he found that there is a reward for the one who is good before God, the one doing worthwhile works, in that he eventually receives the very things that the sinner has gathered together.—Eccl. chap. 2.
Solomon sees that there is a time schedule for every affair under the heavens, and that in the meantime God has given to mankind work with which to be occupied. God’s own works are good and everything has its time. Man can never completely fathom God’s wisdom and purposes. Therefore, the thing for a man to do is to accept the gift of God, to rejoice and to do good and to see good for the hard work he has done. (Compare 1 Corinthians 15:58;
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