dissoluteness and profligacy. The book,
therefore, may be dated with considerable confidence a little before 200
B.C. It was a corrupt, barren period. Crime was rampant in the temple as
well as at the court in Alexandria (3:16). The people were crushed by the
powerful and were without means of redress (4:1). A despot sat on the
throne (10:5-7) and spies lurked everywhere (10:20).

VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of Life. The author of the original book of
Ecclesiastes is the spokesman of that class in Judaism who were oppressed
and crushed by this dreary outlook. He evidently lived in Jerusalem and
probably near the temple (5:1 8:10). From the allusions in 7:26, 28 it is
evident that he was unhappily married. From the classic description of old
age found in 11:9-12:7 it would appear that when he wrote he was well
advanced in years, and spoke out of the depths of his own painful personal
experience, having been left without son or close kinsman (4:8). From his
teachings it is clear that he had broken away from the orthodox wisdom
school. Before his enfeebled vision rose the seamy, dreary side of life,
and yet back of the lament of this ancient pessimist is revealed a man of
high ideals, impelled by a spirit of scientific thoroughness. Though he
was intense and eager in his quest for true happiness and in his
analysis of the meaning of life, he found no abiding joy, for his
outlook was sadly circumscribed. Life beyond the grave offered to him
no hope or compensation. He was, however, by no means an agnostic. He
believed in God's rulership of the world; but the God of his faith was
inscrutable, far removed from the life of men. Hence, unlike many of his
contemporaries, as for example the psalmists, he found little joy or
inspiration in his religion. According to the conclusion, which he
proclaimed in the beginning of his essay and held consistently throughout,
all human striving and ambition, even life itself, are but superlative
vanity, nor can man attain any permanent or complete satisfaction. The one
positive teaching which Koheleth reiterates is that it is man's highest
privilege to extract from passing experiences the small measure of joy and
happiness that they offer, and therewith to be content. Compared with many
other Old Testament books, the religious value of Ecclesiastes is slight
indeed. Its chief value, however, is historical: it presents one phase of
thought in the Judaism of this period, and shows how sorely the J