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Metaphors are a pithy way to express truth, and as such are heavily employed in proverbs such as this one, and indeed in all of wisdom literature. This metaphor should communicate strongly to anyone familiar with rope (or, interestingly, in our own day, cable). A rope woven from two strands is so easily unravelled that its disintegration is automatic—even ...

I found this obvious, and I can't resist referencing my own translation work that you can find posted on Wikisource: Cast your bread onto the waters, because in the many days, you shall find it. Give a part to seven, even to eight, because you will not know what evil will be on the Earth This is saying if you have bread, share it, let it "drift out on ...

The NET Bible notes: The meaning of קֹהֶלֶת (qohelet) is somewhat puzzling. The verb קָהַל (qahal) means “to assemble, summon” (HALOT 1078-79 s.v. קהל), and is derived from the noun קָהָל (qahal, “assembly”; HALOT 1079-80 s.v. קָהָל). Thus קֹהֶלֶת might mean: (1) convener of the assembly, (2) leader, speaker, teacher, or preacher of the assembly, or (3) ...

Interesting question. The common uses of gathering stones -- to build buildings or monuments -- don't have an obvious inverse. (Yes, idols have to be knocked down, but that's broader than stones.) And the only use of casting stones I can think of is judicially (for executions), which is pretty specialized. With that as background I consulted Rashi, who ...

Ecclesiastes is a contemplation of meaning by the philosopher king (notionally Solomon), who calls himself Qoheleth. Unlike most wisdom literature in the Bible, which is phrased as dialog between the wise teacher and the student reader1, this text is semi-autobiographical meditations that dwell on the vanity of various aspects of life. The crux of the book ...

We have to look at the verse in a broader context. The whole book is a collection of wisdom from the perspective of one who has lived a full life. Within this chapter, the lead-up to this verse is: 8 There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour, neither is his eye ...

Proverbs is wisdom for children: do this and this will happen. It's basic mechanics. Plant and you will get a harvest. It is all true, but life is more complicated. The harvest doesn't always come, even though we are to plant in expectation. So Ecclesiastes is the admission that wisdom simply isn't enough. Attempting to figure everything out is often an ...

I read an interesting explanation of this on the Biblical Horizons blog a while back. Jeff Meyers pulls an idea from Michael Homan and suggests that this could be an allusion to a form of beer making used in the ancient world. I don't have direct access to Homan's work, but here's a snippet from the Wikipedia article on Ancient Egyptian Cuisine: ...