Ecclesiastes 1:12
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
BSB
ASV
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
KJV
I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
"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.
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.
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.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
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…
