I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I, a preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.
I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes — Qohelet the Preacher — ''vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'' The book's relentless examination of life under the sun, resolving not in despair but in ''fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.''
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices7
"I, Ecclesiastes, was King over Israel in Jerusalem. "Until now the preface has spoken only generally about all arguments; but here he returns to the subject of himself, and reveals who he was, and how he knew and experienced all things. The Hebrews say that Solomon, who was doing repentance, wrote this book, and who, having put his trust in wisdom and riches, failed God because of his wives.
Jerome· Commentary on Ecclesiastes, 420patristic
I the preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
I the Preacher was king - This is a strange verse, and does not admit of an easy solution. It is literally, I, Choheleth, have been king over Israel, in Jerusalem. This book, as we have already seen, has been conjectured by some to have been written about the time that Ptolemy Philadelphus formed his great library at Alexandria, about two hundred and eighty-five years before our Lard; and from the multitude of Jews that dwelt there, and resorted to that city for the sake of commerce, it was said there was an Israel in Alexandria. See the introduction.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical
Therefore, "the Preacher" (Koheleth) is repeated. was king--instead of "am," because he is about to give the results of his past experience during his long reign. in Jerusalem--specified, as opposed to David, who reigned both in Hebron and Jerusalem; whereas Solomon reigned only in Jerusalem.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed
I was king - Having asserted the vanity of all things in the general, he now comes to prove his assertion in those particulars wherein men commonly seek, and with greatest probability expect to find, true happiness.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical
He that is the preacher of this doctrine was king over Israel, whom all their neighbours admired as a wise and understanding people, Deut. iv. He had his royal seat in Jerusalem, which then deserved, better than Athens ever did, to be called the eye of the world. The heart of a king is unsearchable; he has reaches of his own, and a divine sentence is often in his lips.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
It aggravated the sin of Jehoiakim that he was the son of Josiah, Jer. xxii. (3.) That his being the son of David encouraged him to repent and hope for mercy, for David had fallen into sin, by which he should have been warned not to sin, but was not; but David repented, and therein he took example from him and found mercy as he did.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
The verses this one reaches6
These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
In the third year of his reign, Jehoshaphat sent his officials Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah to teach in the cities of Judah,
For this reason I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the Gentiles. I am telling the truth; I am not lying about anything.
So King Solomon ruled over Israel,
And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD.
The Teacher searched to find delightful sayings and to record accurate words of truth.
The walk5
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Ecclesiastes 1:1These are the words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
leads to
“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher. “Everything is futile!”
“Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
Thus the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.
but Rehoboam still reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
