Qohélet (l'Ecclésiaste)
'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity': nothing new under the sun.
Life
Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) is a book of the Hebrew Bible, written in Hebrew, which opens with 'the words of Qohelet, son of David, king in Jerusalem': tradition saw Solomon in him, but scholars generally date the book to about the 3rd century BCE. It meditates on the vanity of toil, time, death and simple pleasure, and remains one of the major texts on the meaning of life.
Main works
Observes that everything under the sun is 'vanity', and advises enjoying simple joys while fearing God (approximate date).
In his own words
« The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. »
מה־שהיה הוא שיהיה ומה־שנעשה הוא שיעשה ואין כל־חדש תחת השמש
« For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. »
כי החיים יודעים שימתו והמתים אינם יודעים מאומה ואין־עוד להם שכר כי נשכח זכרם
« Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. »
לך אכל בשמחה לחמך ושתה בלב־טוב יינך כי כבר רצה האלהים את־מעשיך
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceGod exists and governs all, but remains distant and inscrutable: "God is in heaven and you are on earth".
Qohélet 5:1-2 ; 3:11
Humans cannot grasp what God does under the sun, however hard the wise try.
Qohélet 8:16-17
Toil and achievement bring no lasting gain ("vanity"); the text advises enjoying simple gifts of the day.
Qohélet 1:2-3 ; 2:24 ; 9:7-9
"There is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins."
Qohélet 7:20