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A Second Summary: A backward glance over
Ecclesiastes 4:9 to 6:12

In our first summary (to see link click Cm – The First Summary: A Backward Glance Over Ecclesiastes 1:1 to 4:8), we were reminded how widely the opening chapters had ranged in search of a satisfying end to life. Then, for a while, the quest appeared to have been called off. From 4:9 to about 5:12 we could pause to look around and study the human scene with some detachment. The comments were as intense as ever, but the tone was cool, almost accepting. Yet this was irony, not acceptance. From 5:13 onwards we were no longer spared the concern that the world’s anomalies and tragedies should arouse us. We sampled its searing disappointments; the sudden ruin of a life’s work (5:13-17); the glittering achievements that brought us no happiness (6:1-6). There was a glimpse of better things at the close of Chapter 5, a token that Solomon would lead us to an answer in the end; but the relief was short-lived. Chapter 6, which started by exposing a few empty lives, went on to uncover our human anthill, endlessly and pointlessly busy (6:7-9), and finished by dismissing our fine speeches about progress (6:10-12). For all his talk, man on his own has no ability to change himself; no permanence. He is alone with no purpose under the sun, for cutting God out of the picture.291