Is Ecclesiastes too cynical for the Bible?

Question

Do these verses make you want to get up in the morning?

Everything is emptiness. 3 What do people gain from all the work they do under the sun? 4 A generation goes and a generation comes, yet the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, and rushes back again to the place from which it rises. 6 The wind blows south, then returns to the north, round and round goes the wind, on its rounds it circulates. 7 All streams flow to the sea, yet the sea does not fill up. 8 All matters are tiring, more than anyone can express. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What is is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. There is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which it can be said, "See this is new!"--It has already been, in eras before us. 11 The people of ages past are no longer remembered, nor will there be any remembrance of people yet to come by those who come after them.

Answer 1

Ecclesiastes for some reason is probably my favourite book of the bible and yet so many do not like it
i am not Christian but i have learned a lot from the words in that book

Answer 2

Ecclesiastes is a book of mans perspective and gives others a chance to see the world through the eyes of a person who, though very wise and with the big bucks, is trying to find meaning in temporary, human things. Many of the statements are very pessimistic, and seem at odds with other parts of the Bible. By reading the entire book in its context, one can see that the author is discussing the viewpoint of one without God. His pessimism and fatalism is from the perspective of one with no hope, no meaning, and no God.

Answer 3

read about King Solomon: 2 Chronicles 1-12. You know the old saying -what do you give a person who has everything( including wisdom and knowledge)

Answer 4

Read chapters 11 and 12.
The conclusions after all of Solomon's musings are more positive.
.

Answer 5

I rather enjoy the Book of Ecclesiastes. I see it as a book that reveals man's struggle for what he thinks important, (riches, fame, power, etc...) is meaningless in the mind of God.
After all is said and done, what is important? "To fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the purpose of man."

Answer 6

It's pretty darn cynical, but gives you a different view of the world. That's what happens when you disillusion the people.

Answer 7

Try reading :


Latin Vulgate
Douay-Rheims Bible

Ecclesiasticus




The Languages Of The Bible


1. Were all the books of the Bible originally written in one language?
No, besides Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic were used.

2. What books were written in Hebrew?
Almost all the books of the Old Testament.

3. What books were written in Greek?
In the Old Testament, the Second Book of Machabees and the Book of Wisdom; in the New Testament, all books except the Gospel of St. Matthew.

4. What books were written in Aramaic?
The Gospel of St. Matthew.

5. When were the books of the Old Testament, that were originally written in Hebrew, translated into Greek?
About 220 years before Christ.

6. Why was the translation from Hebrew into Greek made?
Because the Jewish people was dispersed into countries where the Greek tongue predominated, and so it gradually forgot the mother tongue, speaking only Greek. Hence the wish to have the Bible in the Greek tongue.

The Septuagint Version

1. Who were the translators of the Old Testament?
The translators of the Old Testament were Jewish scholars well acquainted with both the Hebrew and the Greek languages.

2. By what name is this translation known?
It is known as the Septuagint Version.

3. Why is it called by that name?
It is called by that name because it was commonly supposed that seventy scholars were employed in the work of translating.

4. Was it known by any other name besides that of the Septuagint?
It was known as the Alexandrian Version to distinguish it from the Hebrew or Palestinian Version.

5. Why was it known as the "Alexandrian Bible?"
Because this translation was made in Alexandria, Egypt, which had the biggest and most vibrant Jewish community outside of Israel.

6. Is there any other difference between the Septuagint and the Palestinian version, besides their language?
Several; The Septuagint contains more books than the Palestinian version and is about three hundred years older. The Palestinian Version originated approximately around 106 A.D. and is different from the Hebrew texts that were the basis for the Septuagint translation.

7. Why does the Septuagint have more books than the Palestinian version?
The translators had a well-founded belief that these books were inspired.

8. Were these added books accepted by the Hebrews?
Yes, but only up until 106 A.D., when the Palestinian, known also as the pharisaic version, became the norm.

9. Was the Septuagint Version much in use in Our Lord's time?
It was used not only by the Greek-speaking Jews but also by the Palestinian Jews; Our Lord and the Apostles frequently quoted it.

10. Did this Greek translation of the Bible help to spread Christianity?
It helped very much, because Gentiles, particularly the Greek philosophers, had read it, and had knowledge of the prophecies referring to the Messiah, with the result that when St. Paul preached to them, many converts were made.


The Vulgate

1. Name again the languages of the Old Testament before the time of Christ.
Hebrew and Greek.

2. In what languages did the Apostles write their Gospels and Epistles?
They wrote their Gospels and Epistles in Greek, except St. Matthew, who wrote his Gospel in Aramaic.

3. How did translations in languages other than Hebrew and Greek come into existence?
As Catholicism spread among peoples of different languages, the demand for the Bible in their various languages grew.

4. Name some of the earlier languages into which the Bible was translated.
Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopian.

5. Was the Bible translated into Latin?
Many translations into Latin were made during the early Catholic centuries.

6. Were these Latin translations satisfactory?
No; many inaccuracies existed, due to errors of the copyists, or errors of translation caused by a poor understanding of the original language.

7. Which of the Latin translations was the best known?
The best known Latin translation was either the "Old African" or the "Old Italian" (Vetus Itala).

8. What was the result of the general dissatisfaction with these Latin translations?
Pope Damasus (Pope from 366 to 384) commissioned St. Jerome to make a new and accurate translation.

9. How did St Jerome go about this work?
He studied carefully the Hebrew and Greek versions, and from these made his new translation.

10. By what name is the Latin translation of St. Jerome known?
It is known as the Vulgate Version. Vulgate means common or vulgar in Latin and it was called so because Latin was the common tongue of the Western Roman Empire.

11. Does the Vulgate have the Church's special approval?
The Council of Trent (Italy) in 1546 declared it to be the only authentic and official version for the Latin Rite: " The same Sacred and Holy Synod ... hereby declares and enacts that the same well-known Old Latin Vulgate edition ... is to be held authentic in public readings, disputations,sermons, and expositions, and that no one shall dare or presume to reject it under any pretense whatsoever." (DZ. 785). It is still the official Catholic Bible today.


The Douay Bible

1. Is there a Catholic translation of the Bible in English?
Yes, it is the translation known as the Douay-Rheims Version. It was translated from the Latin Vulgate.

2. Why is it called "Douay-Rheims"?
Because it was begun at Rheims and finished at Douay in 1582-1609 by a group of English priests exiled in France.

3. What happened in the sixteenth century to cause the publication of a reliable and accurate translation?
During the Protestant "Deformation" in England many false translations had been made, hence there was great necessity of placing in the hands of Catholics a reliable and accurate translation.

4. Is it true that the Bible was never translated into vernacular languages before the Protestant Deformation?
It is not true; the first translation known in England was the translation into Anglo-Saxon made by Venerable Bede in the eighth century. There is a Gothic translation, made by a certain bishop Ulfilas around 380. The first German translation predates Luther by a good fifty years.

5. Why do Protestants assert that the Bible was never translated before the Deformation?
Through a mixture of ignorance and bad faith.

6. What is the most well known of the false English Protestant translations?
It is the version called the "King James," named after the King who commissioned it in 1604. It was finished in 1611. It is still the most popular of the Protestant Bibles in the English speaking world.

7. What is wrong with the "King James" version?
Like all the Protestant Bibles, it is incomplete and poorly translated. It is a "Pick and choose" version. Such is the real lack of respect of the "Reformers" for the word of God!

Differences Between Catholic And Protestant Versions

1. Does the Catholic version of the Bible differ from Protestant versions?
Yes, in many ways.

2. What is the most noticeable difference?
The most noticeable difference is the absence of seven whole books and parts of two others from the Protestant versions.

3. What books are not contained in the Protestant version?
The Deutero-Canonical Books (See lesson 6).

4. Why are the Deutero-Canonical Books Omitted by Protestants?
Because the Protestant versions of the Bible follow the late Palestinian version of the Bible, which also omits these books (See lesson 8).

5. Name another difference between the Catholic and Protestant versions.
Many important arbitrary changes are found in the texts of the Protestant Bible. According to some scholars, the most popular Protestant Bibles have literally hundreds of mistranslations, additions and omissions.

6. To what do such changes of text lead?
They lead to an entirely different interpretation from the one intended by the Sacred Writer.

7. Give an example of this change of text.
St Paul says, "... Being therefore justified by Faith ..." (Rom. V, 1), and Luther inserted the word "alone" so that the text reads, "Being therefore justified by faith alone."

8. Why were the Reformers so anxious to change texts?
They were anxious to change texts to give force to the particular doctrine of their choice.

9. Should that behavior of the Reformers raise some questions in our mind?
Yes, what did they believe exactly concerning the Bible? Either they did not believe it was the Word of God, and therefore felt free to change it any which way; or if they did believe it was the Word of God, it took a lot of pride and presumption to correct God's word. In either case, they should be called "Deformers" rather than Reformers.

10. Name other differences between the King James version and the Douay version.
The King James version has a preference for words of Anglo-Saxon origin whereas the Douay version freely uses words of Latin origin. The Douay version latinizes the name of some books while the King James gives what they thought at the time to be the Hebrew name. Many Protestant versions other than King James omit the Epistle of St. James.

Source(s):
Latin Vulgate
Douay-Rheims Bible
A Catechism Of The Bible

Answer 8

I was starting to answer you but I already forgot who you were and what you wanted. I guess you shouldn't of even got out of bed. lol

Answer 9

probably... i guess thats why it seems the most rational to me. it reminds me if siddhartha... i like it. he is just pondering existance, something no one else in the bible seems to do. to me it is more cynical that way...

Answer 10

Don't take life too seriously