NOTES for Ecc 2:22-24

Ecclesiastes describes many earthly joys, and it would seem hard to object to what he says about their vanity and meaninglessness. Yet, reading again and again about the pleasures available to him, it is hard to shake the feeling that this is not a normal perception of earthly joys, but a surfeit caused by their excessive quantity. Already here one can, first as a modest supposition, ask the question: what if the power of vanity is not absolute, and vanity enslaves those who are ready to fall under its power?

The end of the wise and the foolish is called one and the same. This cannot be disputed if one speaks of the end of earthly life. But what if life does not cease with the end of one's earthly term? This is not yet being discussed; for now we are shown a model of life without a perspective extending beyond the time allotted for staying on earth. One recalls that during the years of mass atheism, the Book of Ecclesiastes was often quoted; its lines about vanity of vanities were close to the widespread feeling of life, but the quotation was one-sided, and much in the book that could not be reduced to words torn from the whole text went unnoticed.

And now, at last, a way out of hopelessness begins to shine through, and the discussion turns to the gifts of God.