Ecclesiastes

[inchristalone221]

I'm about to start a Bible study with a group from my church and I'm looking for a good reformed commentary on Ecclesiastes. I was more or less heartbroken to find that it was one of the books Calvin didn't finish

Can anyone recommend a good commentary?

 

[Paleoconservatarian]

I am also interested in this, since I am taking a class on Ecclesiastes at church.

 

[mlqurgw]

John Gill wrote a commentary on the book as well as Keil & Delitzsch. Matthew Henry and Matthew Poole both wrote on the book. Robert Hawker did an excellent job with it, Christ centered as usual.

You can probaly find Gill, Henry and Poole on the web. I know you can read Gill at Gills Archive.

 

[Cajun Huguenot]

THis is From CH Spurgeon's Commenting on Commentaries:

ECCLESIASTES​

ANNOTATIONS on the Book of Ecclesiastes. [12mo.] Lond. Printed by J. Streater. 1669. By no means remarkable, except for extreme rarity.

BEZA (THEODORE.). Ecclesiastes. Solomon's Sermon to the People, with an Exposition. Small 8vo. Cam&, [1594]. 7/6. Sure to be weighty and instructive. It is exceedingly rare.
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[SIZE=+1]BRIDGES[/SIZE] (CHARLES, M.A.) Exposition of Ecclesiastes. Sq. 8vo. 6/-Lond., Seeley & Co. 1860. S. 3/-After the manner of other works by this devout author, who is always worth consulting, though he gives us nothing very new.
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BROUGHTON (HUGH. 1549—1612). A Comment upon Ecclesiastes, framed for the Instruction of Prince Henry. 4to. 1605. Broughton was a far-famed and rather pretentious Hebraist whom Dr. Gill quoted as an authority. His work is nearly obsolete, but its loss is not a severe one.
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[SIZE=+1]BUCHANAN[/SIZE] (ROBERT, D.D.) Ecclesiastes; its Meaning and its Lessons, explained and illustrated. Sq. 8vo. 7/6. Loud., Glasg., & Edinb., Blackie & Sons. 1859. S. 3/6. Dr. Buchanan has endeavored in every instance to give the true meaning of the text. His explanations were composed for the pulpit and delivered there. The work is most important, but strikes us as lacking in liveliness of style.
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[SIZE=-2]CHOHELETH, or "The Royal Preacher, a Poem." First published in the year 1768. 4to. 3/-Reprinted, 8vo., 1830. 1/6. This is the work of which Mr. Wesley wrote:—"Monday, Feb. 8, 1768. I met with a surprising poem, intituled Choheleth, or the Preacher: it is a paraphrase in tolerable verse on the Book of Ecclesiastes. I really think the author of it (a Turkey merchant) understands both the difficult expressions and the connection of the whole, better than any other, either ancient or modern, writer whom I have seen." We defer to Mr. Wesley's opinion, but it would not have occurred to us to commend so warmly.[/SIZE]

COLEMAN (JOHN NOBLE, M.A.) Ecclesiastes. A New Trans-lation, with Notes. Imp. 8vo. 5/-Lond., Nisbet. 1867. S. 2/6. A scholarly translation with important observations.

COTTON (JOHN. 1585—1652). A briefe exposition, with practical observations. Small 8vo. Loud., 1654. [Reprinted in Nichol's series of Commentaries. See Muffet, No. 596.] By a great linguist and sound divine. Ecclesiastes is not a book to be expounded verse by verse; but Cotton does it as well as anyone.

COX (SAMUEL). The Quest of the Chief Good: Expository Lectures. Sq. 8vo. 7/6. Lond., Isbister. 1868. S. 3/6. We should find it hard to subscribe to Mr. Cox's views of Ecclesiastes, for, to begin with, we cannot admit that its author was not Solomon, but some unnamed Rabbi: nevertheless, "The Quest of the Chief Good" is full of valuable matter, and abundantly repays perusal.
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[SIZE=-2]DALE (THOMAS PELHAM, M.A.) Ecclesiastes. With a running Commentary and Paraphrase. 8vo. 7/6. Lond., Rivingtons. 1873. This author makes all that he can out of the errors of the Septuagint, which he seems to value almost as much as the correct text itself. The new translation is a sort of stilted paraphrase, which in a remarkable manner darkens the meaning of the wise man's words. Mr. Dale says he is a man of one book, and we are glad to hear it: for we should be sorry for another book to suffer at his hands.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=-2]DESVOEUX (A. V.) A Philosophical and Critical Essay on Ecclesiastes. 4to. Lond., 1760. 2/6. A curious and elaborate production. Neither in criticism, nor in theology, is the author always sound, and his notes are a very ill-arranged mass of singular learning.[/SIZE]

GINSBURG (CHRISTIAN D.) Coheleth, or Ecclesiastes; trans-lated, with a Commentary. 8vo. Lond.,Longmans. 1857. S. 12/-The author does not believe that Solomon wrote the book, and his view of its design is not the usual, nor, as we think, the right one. His outline of the literature of the book is very complete.

GRANGER (THOMAS). A Familiar Exposition, wherein the World's Vanity and the true Felicitie are plainly deciphered. 4to. Lond., 1621. 5/-to 7/6. Very antique, containing many obsolete and coarse phrases; but pithy and quaint.
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[SIZE=-2]GREENAWAY (STEPHEN). New Translation. 8vo. Leicester, 1781. 3/6. Confused, eccentric, and happily very rare.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=+1]HAMILTON[/SIZE] JAMES, D.D. (1814-1867). Royal Preacher: Lectures on Ecclesiastes. Cr. 8vo. 3/6. Also 12mo., 1851; 16mo., 1854. Lond., Nisbet. S. 1/6 to 2/6. We have had a great treat in reading this prose poem. It is a charming production.
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[SIZE=+1]HENGSTENBERG[/SIZE] (E. W., D.D.) Commentary on Ecclesiastes. To which are appended: Treatises on the Song of Solomon; on the Book of Job; on the Prophet Isaiah, &c. 8vo. 9/-Edinb., T. & T. Clark. 1860. S. 4/6. Scholarly of course, and also more vivacious than is usual with Hengstenberg.
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[SIZE=-2]HODGSON (BERNARD, LL.D ) New Translation. 4to. Oxf., 1791. 4/' Notes neither long, numerous, nor valuable.[/SIZE]

HOLDEN (GEORGE, M.A.) An Attempt to illustrate the Book of Ecclesiastes. 8vo. Lond., 1822. 3/6. Bridges says that Holden "stands foremost for accuracy of critical exegesis," and Ginsburg considers his Commentary to be the best in our language. We may therefore be wrong in setting so little store by it as we do, but we are not convinced.

JERMIN (MICHAEL, D.D.) Ecclesiastes. Folio. 1639. 6/6. The school to which Jermin belonged delighted to display their learning, of which they had no small share; they excelled in wise sayings, but not in unction. The fruit is ripe, but lacks flavour.
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[SIZE=+1]KEIL & DELITZSCH.[/SIZE] (See Books of Solomon. No. 577.)
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[SIZE=+1]LANGE.[/SIZE] (See Books of Solomon. No. 578.)

LLOYD (J., M.A.) An Analysis of Ecclesiastes: with reference to the Hebrew Grammar of Gesenius, and with Notes; to which is added the Book of Ecclesiastes, in Hebrew and English, in parallel columns. 4to. 7/6. Lond., Bagsters. 1874. This will be esteemed by men who have some knowledge of the Hebrew. The repeated references to Gesenius would render the book tedious to the ordinary reader, but they make it all the more valuable to one who aspires to be a Hebraist.

[LUTHER]. An Exposition of Salomon's Booke, called Eccle-siastes, or the Preacher. 8vo. Printed by J. Day. Lond., x 513. Even the British Museum authorities have been unable to find this octavo for us, though it is mentioned in their catalogue
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[SIZE=+1]MACDONALD[/SIZE] (JAMES M., D.D. Princeton, iV. J.) Ecclesiastes. Thick 12mo. New York. 1856. S. 4/6. Thoroughly exegetical, with excellent "scopes of argument" following each division: to be purchased if it can be met with.

MORGAN (A. A.) Ecclesiastes metrically Paraphrased, with Illustrations. 4to. 2 i/-Lond., Bosworth. 1856. This is an article de luxe, and is rather for the drawing-room than for the study. A graphic pencil, first-class typography, and a carefully written metrical translation make up an elegant work of art.

MYLNE (G. W.) Ecclesiastes; or, Lessons for the Christian's Daily Walk. 16mo. Lond., 1859. 1/6. The author in this little publication does not comment upon the whole Book; but the passages he touches are ably explained.

NISBET (ALEXANDER. Died about 1658). An Exposition, with Practical Observations. 4to. Edinb., 1694. 4/6 to 10/6. One of those solid works which learned Scotch divines of the seven teenth century have left us in considerable numbers. In our judgment it is as heavy as it is weighty.

NOYES. (See No. 579).

PEMBLE (WILLIAM, M.A 1591—1623). Salomon's Recanta-tion and Repentance; or, the Book of Ecclesiastes briefly and fully explained. Thin 4to. Lond., 1628. 3/6. Anthony a Wood calls Pemble "a famous preacher, a skillful linguist, a good orator, and an ornament to society." Moreover, he was a learned Calvinistic divine. This "Recantation" is a minor production. The style is scholastic, with arrangements of the subjects such as render it hard to read. We confess we are disappointed with it.

PRESTON (THEODORe, M.A.) A translation of the Commentary of Mendelssohn from the Rabbinic Hebrew; also a newly-arranged English Version, 8vo. Lond., 1845. 5/-A book more prized by linguists than by preachers. We might with propriety have named this Mendelssohn's Commentary, for so it is.
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[SIZE=-2]PROBY (W. H. B., M.A.) Ecclesiastes for English Readers. Thin 8vo. 4/6. Lond., Rivingtons. 1874. S. 2/3. About 45 pages, and these are quite enough. What has come to a man's brain when he prophecies that Antichrist will take away the daily sacrifice, that is, "forbid the eucharistic bread and wine," and then adds: "To this awful time there is probably a mystical reference in the words of our present book (XII. 6), 'While the silver cord is not loosed, or the golden bowl broken, or the pitcher broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.' For silver and gold signify respectively, in the symbolic language of Scripture, love and truth: thus the loosening of the silver cord will mean the love of many waxing cold, and the breaking of the golden bowl will mean the failure of truth from the earth; and we understand, then, that in the last awful time there will be no longer any speaking of the truth in love. And as the 'wells of salvation' in Isaiah XlI. 3, are the sacraments and other means of grace, so the breaking of the pitcher and the wheel may signify the cessation of those ministries by which the sacraments and other means of grace are dispensed."[/SIZE]

REYNOLDS (EDWARD, D.D. Bishop of Norwich, x 599—1676) Annotations. Works. Vol. IV. 8vo. Lond., 1826. Reprinted, by Dr. Washburn. 8vo. Lond., 1811. 2/6. See Westminster Assembly's Annotations (No. 2), for which Reynolds wrote this: he is always good.
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[SIZE=-2]SERRANUS, or, DE SERRES (JOHN. 1540—1598). A Godlie and Learned Commentary upon Ecclesiastes, newly turned into English, by John Stockwood, Schoolmaster of Tunbridge. 8vo. Lond., 1585. 7/6. Serranus was a Protestant pastor at Nismes, of such moderate opinions, and such objectionable modes of stating them, that he was about equally abhorred by Romanists and Protestants. He is said to have been very inaccurate in his learning.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=+1]STUART[/SIZE] (MOSES). A Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12mo. 6/-New York., 1851. S. 3/-Full and minute, with most instructive introductions. It is unnecessary to say that Moses Stuart is a great authority, though not all we could wish as to spirituality.
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[SIZE=-2]TYLER (Triowas, M.A.) Ecclesiastes; a Contribution to its Interpretation. 8vo. 7/6. Lond., Williams & Norgate. 1875. This writer is no doubt a profound thinker, but we do not set much store by the result of his thinkings. He maintains that the writer of Ecclesiastes was a Jew who had. traveled abroad, and heard the Stoic philosophers and their opponents at Athens. He seems to think that his point is proved, but it is the merest surmise possible. The work is not at all to our taste.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=+1]WARDLAW[/SIZE] (RALPH, D.D.) Lectures on Ecclesiastes. 2vols.,8vo. 1821. 2vols., 12mo. 1838. Oliphant & Co.'s edition, in 1 vol., 8/6. 1871. S. 4/6. Wardlaw is always goad, though not very brilliant. He may be relied upon, when not critical, and he generally excites thought.

WEISS (BENJAMIN). New Translation and Exposition, with Critical Notes. 12mo. 4/-Lond., Nisbet & Co. 1856. S. 1/6. It is pleasing to find a converted Jew engaged upon this Book. Mr. Weiss says many good things, but frequently his interpretations and remarks are more singular than wise.
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[SIZE=-2]YCARD (FR. Dean of Achonry). Paraphrase. 8vo. Lond., 1701. I/6. The clean supposes the Royal Preacher to have been interrupted by an impudent sensualist, and so he gets rid of the difficulty of certain passages by putting them into the scoffer's mouth. The theory is not to be tolerated for a moment.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=+1]YOUNG[/SIZE] (LOYAL, D.D.) Commentary, with introductory Notices by McGill and Jacobus. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1865. This American comment is high& spoken of by eminent judges. and appears to have been carefully executed. It is able and solid, and at the same time enlivened with originality of thought, vivacity of,expression, and practical pungency.

SMITH (JOHN, M.D., M.R.C.P.L.) King Solomon's Portraiture of Old Age, wherein is contained A Sacred Anatomy both of Soul and Body, with an account of all these Mystical and Enigmatical Symptomes, expressed in the six former verses of the 12th Chap. of Ecclesiastes, made plain and easie to a mean Capacitie. 8vo. Lond., 1666. 2/6 to 5/-A curious book by a Physician, who brings his anatomical knowledge to bear upon the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, and tries to show that Solomon understood the circulation of the blood, &c. Matthew Poole introduced the substance of this treatise into his Synopsis, and in that huge compilation he speaks eulogistically of the author, with whom he resided. We mention it because of its singularity.

 

[JimfromOhio]

I have been studying Ecclesiastes in the past year and there are not many books out there. David Jeremiah's book on Ecclesiastes is good. Its called "Searching for Heaven on Earth".

This is from my Journal:

Everyone should read Ecclesiastes on their birthday every year simply because Solomon explained to us the reality of life from God's point of view. I arrived naked from the womb of my mother; I will leave in the same condition--with nothing. There's a right time and way for everything. It's true that no one knows what's going to happen, or when. Life leads to death that life, while it lasts, will soon be over. There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth. A right time for birth and another for death. A right time to plant and another to reap. A right time to get sick and another to heal. A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer. A right time to make love and another to abstain. A right time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses. A right time to hold on and another to let go. A right time to rip out and another to mend. A right time to shut up and another to speak up. A right time to love and another to hate.

Whether healthy and full of energy or weak and stricken with pain, I can greet a new day and welcome it as an opportunity to praise and worship God. He knows my current state and my tomorrows, if I have one. "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24). I know God is directing my paths and right now at 47 years old, I still don't know what God has plans for me, however, I have learned and know that all things work for good in my life.

A Christian should be best prepared for whatever the New Year brings. I have dealt with life experiences that God have allowed me to experienced. Life experiences have taught me character and hope. Without my trials, testing of my faith, working of my patience, and fighting my good fight.....my life could be really boring. I am to cling to the hope I have, not the things I experience in this life. I can face my tomorrow with a cheerful attitude and be unafraid simply because my yesterdays taught me life's reality lessons. I am here to learn all I can, and with what Christ has given to me, I will make the best and most of the situations in which I find myself into. I am aware that I have spiritual warfare between my flesh and spirit. Believing in God in my heart is important to know who I am is enough. More than enough is the key to a more spiritual and balanced life. Revelation 2:10 says, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.......be faithful even to the point of death”. Remember, Christ is the reason for my true life experiences (Philippians 1:21) that I am to give thanks to all circumstances I face (1 Thess. 5:16-18). God expects me to grow through my trials (James 1:2-4) and trials helped me develop patience and character (Romans 5:1-5). Christians are to bear one another’s burdens (Romans 12:9-16) and remember that God will use my own circumstances to help comfort others who face similar situations.

 

[Erinwilcox]

When I was reading through Ecclesiastes, I used Matthew Henry's commentary. While I realize that this was already mentioned, I just wanted to state how very blessed I have been in reading his commentaries.