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1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. 3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? 4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. 5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. 6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. 7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. 8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 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. 10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. 12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. 16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. 18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
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[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:1
But we can also investigate these things before we even come to the very body of the book, such as why Solomon, who seems to have served the will of the Holy Spirit in those three books is called in Proverbs “Solomon, the Son of David, who ruled in Israel,” but in the second book “Solomon” is not written, but it reads, “the words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Israel in Jerusalem.” To be sure he writes that he is “Son of David” just as in the first book and also “king of Israel.” But there he wrote “Proverbs” but here “words” and called himself “Ecclesiastes,” when he had called himself “Solomon” there. And although there he mentioned only the country over which he reigned, here he both mentioned the nation and designated the place of his kingdom as “Jerusalem.” …I do not think that anyone can doubt that Solomon in rather many respects bears the type of Christ, either because he is named “Man of Peace” or because “the Queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.” This is also the case because he is called “the son of David” and reigns in Israel and because he rules over those kings, on whose behalf he himself is called “king of kings.” And again the true “Ecclesiastes” is that very one “who although he was in the form of God, humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant” in order to gather an ecclesial body, for Ecclesiastes is called from his gathering a congregation.…
Therefore in the first book of Proverbs, when he sets us in moral disciplines, he is said to be “king in Israel” but not yet in Jerusalem because, although we are said to be Israel because of our faith, we nonetheless have not yet arrived to this point so that we seem to have come to the heavenly Jerusalem. But when we will have made progress and will have arrived there so that we will share in the church of the firstborn, which is in heaven, and we know from the ancient and natural reasons we have discussed that the heavenly Jerusalem is our heavenly mother, then already Christ himself will be made our “Ecclesiastes” and will be said to reign not only “in Israel” but also “in Jerusalem.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PROLOGUE
[AD 270] Gregory of Neocaesarea on Ecclesiastes 1:1
These words speaks Solomon, the son of David the king and prophet, to the whole Church of God, a prince most honoured, and a prophet most wise above all men. How vain and fruitless are the affairs of men, and all pursuits that occupy man! For there is not one who can tell of any profit attaching to those things which men who creep on earth strive by body and soul to attain to, in servitude all the while to what is transient, and undesirous of considering anything heavenly with the noble eye of the soul. And the life of men wears away, as day by day, and in the periods of hours and years, and the determinate courses of the sun, some are ever coming, and others passing away. And the matter is like the transit of torrents as they fall into the measureless deep of the sea with a mighty noise. And all things that have been constituted by God for the sake of men abide the same: as, for instance, I that man is born of earth, and departs to earth again; that the earth itself continues stable; that the sun accomplishes its circuit about it perfectly, and rolls round to the same mark again; and that the winds in like manner, and the mighty rivers which flow into the sea, and the breezes that beat upon it, all act without forcing it to pass beyond its limits, and without themselves also violating their appointed laws. And these things, indeed, as bearing upon the good of this life of ours, are established thus fittingly. But those things which are of men's devising, whether words or deeds, have no measure. And there is a plenteous multitude of words, but there is no profit from random and foolish talking. But the race of men is naturally insatiate in its thirst both for speaking and for hearing what is spoken; and it is man's habit, too, to desire to look with idle eyes on all that happens. What can occur afterwards, or what can be wrought by men which has not been done already? What new thing is there worthy of mention, of which there has never yet been experience? For I think there is nothing which one may call new, or which, on considering it, one shall discover to be strange or unknown to those of old. But as former things are buried in oblivion, so also things that are now subsistent will in the course of time vanish utterly from the knowledge of those who shall come after us. And I speak not these things unadvisedly, as acting now the preacher. But all these things were carefully pondered by me when entrusted with the kingdom of the Hebrews in Jerusalem. And I examined diligently, and considered discreetly, the nature of all that is on earth, and I perceived it to be most various; and I saw that to man it is given to labour upon earth, ever carried about by all different occasions of toil, and with no result of his work. And all things here below are full of the spirit of strangeness and abomination, so that it is not possible for one to retrieve them now; nay, rather it is not possible for one at all to conceive what utter vanity has taken possession of all human affairs. For once. on a time I communed with myself, and thought that then I was wiser in this than all that were before me, and I was expert in understanding parables and the natures of things. But I learned that I gave myself to such pursuits to no purpose, and that if wisdom follows knowledge, so troubles attend on wisdom.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:1
Before us for exposition lies Ecclesiastes, which requires labor in spiritual interpretation quite as great as the benefit to be obtained. The thoughts of Proverbs [have] already prepared the mind by exercise.… Then for those who have developed to the more advanced stages of learning there comes the ascent toward this truly sublime and Godinspired work of Scripture [i.e., the book of Ecclesiastes]. If then the exercise in expressions [from the book of Proverbs] which prepares us for these lessons is so painful and difficult to understand, how great an effort must be envisaged in these lofty thoughts which now lie before us for interpretation?… Nevertheless, since it is also one of the Master’s commands that we must search the Scriptures, there is an absolute necessity, even if our mind falls short of the truth, failing to match the greatness of the ideas, that we should still ensure by all the zeal for the Word of which we are capable that we do not appear to disregard the Lord’s command. Let us therefore search the Scripture lying before us to the best of our ability. For surely he who has given the command to search the Scriptures will also give us the ability to do so, as it is written, “The Lord will give a word to those who preach good news with great power.”
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:1
Now the teaching of this book looks exclusively to the conduct of the church and gives instruction in those things by which one would achieve the life of virtue. For the object of what is said here is to raise the mind above sensation, to persuade it to abandon all that seems to be great and splendid in the world of existence, to catch a glimpse through the eyes of the soul of those things which are unattainable by sense perception, and to conceive a desire for those things to which sense does not attain. Perhaps the title of the book also envisages the one who leads the church (ekkl&#;sia). For the true Ecclesiast [is] he who collects into one body what has been scattered and assembles (ekkl&#;siazon) into one whole those who have been led astray in many ways by various deceits. Who else would he be but the true King of Israel, the Son of God, to whom Nathanael said, “You are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel”? If therefore these are words of the King of Israel, and this same one is also the Son of God, as the gospel says, then the same one is called Ecclesiast (Assembler). Perhaps we may not unreasonably give this sense to the expression used in the title, so that we may learn by this that the meaning of these words has reference to him who established the church forever through the gospel message. Words, it says, of the Ecclesiast, the Son of David. And Matthew so names him at the beginning of his gospel, calling the Lord “Son of David.”
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:1
[The book of] Ecclesiastes is offered for our examination because it is especially useful and valuable for contemplation. When [the book of] Proverbs has exercised our minds by its obscure words, wise sayings, riddles and various twists of words as contained in the introduction, we find an ascent for those persons who have advanced to more perfect lessons with regard to this lofty, divinely inspired book. If a toilsome, arduous meditation on Proverbs prepares us for these lessons, how much more laborious and difficult must it be to now examine such sublime matters proposed for our contemplation!… Since one of the divine precepts bids us to search the Scriptures, it is indeed necessary that once our minds have pursued the truth even though we failed to attain the nobility of its thoughts, we are not perceived as despising the Lord’s command in our effort to discharge our duty worthily. Therefore let us examine the Scripture before us as best we can, for he [God] who has bidden us to search will bestow the power [to preach]. As it is written, “The Lord will give a word to those who preach it with much power.”

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:1
The teaching of Ecclesiastes pertains only to suitable behavior in the church, that is, how to direct a person in virtue. This book aims to elevate our minds above the senses, to abandon great, brilliant and noble appearances, to transcend the senses and to attain what transcends them.Perhaps this inscription refers to the leader of the church [ekklēsia]. The true Ecclesiastes [ekklēsiastes, Christ] gathers into one assembly those persons who often have been scattered and frequently deceived. Who could he be except the true king of Israel to whom Nathaniel said, “You are the son of God and the king of Israel”? If these words pertain to the king of Israel, the Son of God, as the Gospel says, then he is called Ecclesiastes. We will not deviate from the inscription’s meaning provided that we learn about him who firmly establishes the church through the Gospel and to whom these words apply. “The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David”: thus Matthew begins his gospel with the name David and calls him Lord.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 1:1
Solomon, who here appears as Ecclesiastes, that is, who preaches what is appropriate for the church, is the son of David. He came after Saul, whose rule was destroyed and terminated. Solomon is son of this king David in two ways.… The first is according to nature and lineage; the second is according to his teaching. One has to understand Paul in this [second] way when he says, “For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” David thus was Solomon’s father in both respects: according to nature—Solomon was his heir and “David begot Solomon”—but he was also his father in terms of instruction. David was wise as only few are—especially wise regarding God.…But Solomon also became wise in a way that few achieve: he became wise through the wisdom [he received] and through his human lineage. According to both ways Solomon thus was the son of David.
But especially in terms of his words as Ecclesiastes is he the son of David, not so much according to nature as according to instruction. For the sons of the wise beget wise people, since they are wise themselves. But someone who is father of a son according to nature does not necessarily become a father again. Many were sons and did not become fathers. The sons according to the Spirit, however, become fathers themselves.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 5:2
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 1:1
Question: [Are the] words of Ecclesiastes said by the author personally?Answer: Actually the Spirit is the author of the divinely inspired Scriptures. The Spirit inspires so that words are expressed, but the wise man is also involved. For the Spirit has not himself invisibly written the letter and put down the text, but he breathes it into the soul. Either the real author is Solomon, or some [other] wise men have written it. Maybe we should opt for the latter so that nobody may say that the speaker talks about himself.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 7:9
[AD 399] Evagrius Ponticus on Ecclesiastes 1:1
The church is [the assembly] of pure souls. It is the true knowledge of the ages and worlds and about their judgment and provision. Ecclesiastes is Christ, the author of that knowledge. Or, Ecclesiastes is one who, having purified the soul by moral contemplation, leads his or her soul to the contemplation of the physical [world].

Source: SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 1:1.1
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:1
Solomon is here given the Greek name Ecclesiastes [Heb Qōhelet], for he gathers the assembly [qāhāl], that is, the church. But we can call him the Preacher because he speaks to the people and his word is directed not only to one person but to everyone.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:1
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:1
"The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King in Jerusalem." The
Scriptures state very clearly that Solomon was known by three names: 'Peace-making', that is 'Solomon'; 'Yedidia',
that is 'beloved of Yahweh'; and the name used here 'Qoheleth', that is
Ecclesiastes. He is called Ecclesiastes
in Greek because he gathered together a crowd of people, "a congregation", which we can call a demagogue because he spoke to
the people and his sermon was not addressed specifically to one man but more
usually to all men. Moreover he is
called 'peace-making' and 'beloved of Yahweh' because there was peace during
his reign and the Lord loved him. For
also Psalms 44, and 71, are known by titles connected with love and
peace-making. Although these psalms
pertain to Christ and the Church they exhibit Solomon's joy and strength, and
according to tradition were composed concerning Solomon.

He also produced an equal number of titles to the three volumes: "Proverbs", "Ecclesiastes", and "Song of
Songs". He teaches for children in "Proverbs" and gives instruction in the
form of maxims almost with a sense of duty, and his sermons here are repeated
continually to his son. In "Ecclesiastes" he teaches a man of mature
age that he should not think anything in the world to be perpetual, but that
all things that we perceive are in fact vain and fleeting. In "Song
of Songs" he embraces an elderly man in the covenant, who has already been
prepared in spurning his times. For
unless we first abandon our moral failings and renounce the pomposity of our
world, and prepare ourselves so we are ready for the arrival of Christ, we will
not be able to say: "let him kiss
me from the kiss of his mouth" [Cant. 1,1.]. Philosophers educate their followers in a
manner similar to this type of instruction: first of all they teach ethics,
then explain physics, and then anyone whom they see to excel in these first two
they then go on to teach theology.
Moreover even this should be examined more closely because Solomon is
named differently in the three books. In
"Proverbs" for example he is thus
named: "The Proverbs of Solomon, the son
of David, King of Israel." [Prov. 1,1.] But in Ecclesiastes: "The words of Ecclesiastes, son of David, King of Jerusalem. "'Israel'
in fact is unnecessary here because it is not found in the Greek or Latin
manuscripts. But in "Song of Songs" he is neither named 'son of David', not 'King of
Israel' or 'King of Jerusalem', but only as "The
Song of Songs of Solomon". This is
just as the Proverbs and the crude arrangement pertain to the twelve tribes and
to the whole of Israel. And although the
contempt of the world only comes to city-dwellers, these are the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, therefore Solomon intends "Song
of Songs" particularly for those who desire spiritual enlightenment. To those readers just embarking on their
education paternal honour and the authority of the king are claimed in their
own merit, but to those who have completed their learning, and in the case
where the disciple has been enlightened not by fear, but by love, his own name
suffices. Then, he is equal to his
teacher and he is unaware that he is a king.
This is the case here. But in a
more spiritual understanding Solomon was peace making and beloved of the Lord
God, and Ecclesiastes can be seen as our Christ too, who destroying the inner
wall and expelling evil from his flesh, makes each of them one, saying -
"I give you my peace, I relinquish my peace to you" [John 14, 27.],
about which the Lord says to his disciples "This is my chosen son whom I
love: listen to him" [Matt. 3, 17.],
and that is he who is father of the Church.
Speaking by no means to the Synagogue of the Jews but to the crowd of
people the King of Jerusalem (that which was built out of the living rocks, not
that about which he says "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill
prophets" [Matth. 23, 37.],
and "Look, let your empty house be left for us" [Matth. 23, 38.]),
but that by which it is forbidden to swear because it is the city of a great
king. This is the son of David, to whom
the blind cried out in the Gospel: "pity us, son of David"; and the
whole crowd sang out in unison: "Hosanna to the son of David". Then there is the fact that the word of God
does not come to him as is the case with Jeremiah and the other prophets, but
on account of his being rich, being a king, holding power, his wisdom and his
other virtues, he speaks to the men of the church himself, and he speaks words
to the apostles about which Psalm 18.5 tells us: "their sound went out to
the whole world and their words went to the ends of the earth". Some scholars think wrongly, therefore, that
we are tempted into desire and luxury by this book, when it teaches quite to
the contrary: everything we perceive in the world is vain; nor is it fitting
for us to seek those things eagerly which perish while we possess them.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Ecclesiastes 1:1
This Book is called Ecclesiastes, or The Preacher, (in Hebrew, Coheleth,) because in it, Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth forth the vanity of the things of this world: to withdraw the hearts and affections of men from such empty toys.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:2
Let us see what is the “vanity” to which the creation was subjected. My own opinion is, that this is nothing else than the possession of bodies, for even though the stars are composed of ether they are nevertheless material. This, it seems to me, is the reason why Solomon arraigns the whole bodily universe as being in a way burdensome and as impeding the activity of spirits, thus: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, said the Preacher; all is vanity.” “For,” he adds, “I looked and I saw all things that are under the sun, and behold, all is vanity.”

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:7.5
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:2
The insubstantial is deemed “futile,” that which has existence only in the utterance of the word. No substantial object is simultaneously indicated when the term is used, but it is a kind of idle and empty sound, expressed by syllables in the form of a word, striking the ear at random without meaning, the sort of word people make up for a joke but which means nothing. This then is one sort of futility. Another sense of “futility” is the pointlessness of things done earnestly to no purpose, like the sandcastles children build, and shooting arrows at stars, and chasing the winds, and racing against one’s own shadow and trying to step on its head, and anything else of the same kind which we find done pointlessly. All these activities are included in the meaning of “futility.” … [And] so also “futility of futilities” indicates the absolute extreme of what is futile.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:2
Vanity may be described as something which lacks existence but exists only in the utterance of this word. The reality behind the word is nonexistent; only the letters transmit a useless, empty sound. These meaningless sounds randomly strike the ear as in a game when we create names which lack meaning. This is one form of vanity. Another refers to persons who zealously accumulate objects with no goal in mind. For example, children’s sand buildings, the shooting at stars with arrows, trapping the wind and racing with one’s shadow while trying to reach its head. If we take another example, we see that they all fall under the term “vanity.” Often human custom calls vanity the looking towards a goal and the pursuit of something profitable; should a person do something contrary or foolish, he invests his energy to no avail. This is too is called vanity.… [And] so “vanity of vanities” demonstrates the incomparable excess of vanity.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Ecclesiastes 1:2
David, who had experienced those very glances which are dangerous for a man, aptly says that the person is blessed whose every hope is in the name of God. For such a one does not have regard to vanities and follies who always strives toward Christ and always looks upon Christ with his inner eyes. For this reason David turned to God again and said, “Turn away my eyes, that they may not see vanity.” The circus is vanity, because it is totally without profit; horse racing is vanity, because it is counterfeit as regards salvation; the theater is vanity, every game is vanity. “All things are vanity!” as Ecclesiastes said, all things that are in this world. Accordingly, let the person who wishes to be saved ascend above the world, let him seek the Word who is with God, let him flee from this world and depart from the earth. For a man cannot comprehend that which exists and exists always, unless he has first fled from here.

Source: FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 1:4
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 1:2
There is a difference between vanities; there are those that are especially so, and others that are not.…Question: [Does Ecclesiastes speak] about one and the same [kind of vanity]?
Answer: About both, about the things that are just vanity as well as about those that are a vanity of vanities. Both the things that most clearly belong to the sphere of vanity and the less obvious vanities are altogether vain in comparison with actual truth. The newborn, the little child and the boy are imperfect. Of course, they are imperfect in comparison with an adolescent, and they are all imperfect in comparison with a man.…
Question: Does he not mean by “vanity of vanities” the visible and the perceivable?
Answer: Yes, but the layperson and the astronomer do not perceive the sun in the same way. The perception of the sun by an astronomer and by a scientist is far inferior to the seeing of the invisible God and it is inferior to the knowledge that comes from God.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 10:13
[AD 399] Evagrius Ponticus on Ecclesiastes 1:2
To those who have entered into the church of the mind and marvel in contemplation of what has come into being, the text says, Do not think that this is the ultimate end or that these are the promises that have been stored up for you. For all these things are [only] vanity of vanities before the knowledge of one’s God. For, just as it is futile for medicine [to seek] a final cure, so is it useless [to seek] after knowledge of the Holy Trinity in the ideas of the [present] ages and worlds.

Source: SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 2:1.2
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Ecclesiastes 1:2
What is vanity of mind? It is the being busied about vain things. And what are those vain things, but all things in the present life? Of them the Preacher says, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” But a person will say, If they be vain and vanity, for what purpose were they made? If they are God’s works, how are they vain? And great is the dispute concerning these things. But listen, beloved: it is not the works of God that he calls vain; God forbid! The heaven is not vain, the earth is not vain—God forbid!—nor the sun, nor the moon and stars, nor our own body. No, all these are “very good.” But what is vain? Let us hear the Preacher himself, what he says: “I planted vineyards, I got men singers and women singers, I made pools of water, I had great possessions of herds and flocks, I gathered me also silver and gold, and I saw that these are vanity.”

Source: HOMILIES ON EPHESIANS 12
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:2
If everything that God made is very good, then how can everything be vanity—and not only vanity, but even vanity of vanities? As one song in the Song of Songs is shown to excel above all songs, so also is the magnitude of vanity demonstrated by the expression “vanity of vanities.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:2
"Vanity of vanities" said Ecclesiastes", Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." If all things that God made are truly good
then how can all things be considered vanity, and not only vanity, but even
vanity of vanities? Just as Song of
Songs means a song that stands out from amongst all songs, so we see that in
"vanity of vanities" the degree of vanity is shown. It is also written similarly in Psalm 38.6:
"Nevertheless every living man is vanity." If living man is vanity then a dead man must
be vanity of vanities. We read in Exodus
that Moses' face is glorified so much that the children of Israel are not able
to see him [Cfr Ex. 34, 30-35.]. Paul the apostle said that his glory was not
really glory when compared to the glory of righteousness: "For even that
which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory
that excelleth." [II Cor. 3, 10.] We are therefore able to say that even we in
this respect, heaven, earth, the seas and all things that are contained within
its compass can be said to be good in themselves, but compared to God they are
nothing. And if I look at the candle in
a lamp and am content with its light, then afterwards when the sun has risen I
cannot discern anymore what was once bright; I will also see the light of the
stars by the light of the setting sun, so in looking at the world and the
multitudinous varieties of nature I am amazed at the greatness of the world,
but I also remember that all things will pass away and the world will grow old,
and that only God is that which has always been. On account of this realisation I am compelled
to say, not once but twice: Vanity of
vanities, all is vanity. Instead of
"vanity of vanities" the Hebrew text reads 'abal abalim' which all
manuscripts excepting that of the Septuagint translate similarly in Greek as "atmos atmidon "or" atmon "which we are able to translate as 'a breath' and 'a light
wind which is quickly dispersed'. In
this way it is shown to be vain and in no way universal by this phrase. For those things which seem to be temporal,
in fact are; but those which do not are eternal. Or since that which will give rise to vanity
has been exposed, he groans and is anxious and awaits the revelation of the
sons of God, and "now we know in part, and we prophesy in part" [I Cor. 13, 9.]. All things are and will be vain, until we
find that which is complete and perfect.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 1:2
By this perversity of the soul, due to sin and punishment, the whole corporeal creation becomes, as Solomon says: “Vanity of them that are vain, all is vanity. What advantage has man in all his labor which he does under the sun?” Not for nothing does he say, “of them that are vain,” for if you take away vain persons who pursue that which is last as if it were first, matter will not be vanity but will show its own beauty in its own way, a low type of beauty, of course, but not deceptive. When man fell away from the unity of God the multitude of temporal forms was distributed among his carnal senses, and his sensibilities were multiplied by the changeful variety. So abundance became laborious, and his needs, if one may say so, became abundant, for he pursues one thing after another, and nothing remains permanently with him. So what with his corn and wine and oil, his needs are so multiplied that he cannot find the one thing needful, a single and unchangeable nature, seeking which he would not err and attaining which he would cease from grief and pain. For then he would have as a consequence the redemption of his body, which no longer would be corrupted. As it is, the corruption of the body burdens the soul, and its earthly habitation forces it to think of many things; for the humble beauty of material objects is hurried along in the order in which one thing succeeds another. The reason why corporeal beauty is the lowest beauty is that its parts cannot all exist simultaneously. Some things give place and others succeed them, and all together complete the number of temporal forms and make of them a single beauty.

Source: OF TRUE RELIGION 21:41
[AD 460] Valerian of Cimiez on Ecclesiastes 1:2
What is that vanity, if not devotion to riches and the pursuit of worldly pleasures? This is confirmed through Solomon, who says, “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.” Therefore, dearly beloved, let no one put his confidence in the vanity of this world. That vanity, as you see, is something standing with insecure footing. Devotion to it is short-lived and empty, and its beauty is like smoke in a wind. The comeliness of its countenance is like that which you see when you look on the beauty of that vine which had its early summer blossoms in well-constituted abundance yet cannot bring forth the actual fruit of the promised grape harvest. While it brings forth too much, it incurs the reproach of perpetual sterility.

Source: HOMILY 6:7
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 1:3
Those who are rich in things that are valued in the realm of the natural do not gain anything. They do not gain longevity. Rich and poor are in the same situation: they go through life quickly and do not stay for a long time. Thus “from all the toil at which they toil under the sun” one does not gain anything, no increase in natural qualities. But the one who toils and strives for things that lead to the eternal and to the invisible gains something: A human being becomes a god, an uncertain human being becomes a strong one, a coward becomes courageous.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 11:18
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:3
"What
profit is there for a man in exchange for all his toil, which he toils under
the sun?" After the general opinion that all things are
vain Solomon begins to explain with regard to mankind: because men exert
themselves in vain in the toil of the world, amassing wealth, teaching
children, working their way towards glory, constructing buildings, and then are
taken away in the midst of their work by sudden death, they hear the words:
"Thou fool, this night your soul shall be required of you, then whose will
be those things that you have amassed?" [Luc. 12, 20.] Just as they make nothing for themselves in
exchange for all this toil, so they return naked to the earth from whence they
were taken.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 1:3
So this is what the rich should do: not be haughty in their ideas, nor set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who bestows all things on us abundantly for our enjoyment; that is what they must do. But what are they to do with what they have? Let me tell you what: “Let them be rich in good works, let them be easy givers.” After all, they have the wherewithal. Poverty is difficult and grim. “Let them be easy givers”; they have the wherewithal. Let them share, that is, take some notice of their fellow mortals. “Let them share, let them store up for themselves a good foundation for the future.” “You see,” he says, “just because I say ‘Let them be easy givers, let them share,’ it doesn’t mean I want them looted, want them stripped naked, want them left empty. I am teaching them how to make a profit, when I point out, ‘Let them store up for themselves.’ I’m not telling them to do this so that they can lose it; I’m showing them where to transfer the account. ‘Let them store up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they lay hold of true life.’ ” So this one is a false life; let them lay hold of true life. After all, “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. What is this great abundance for man in all his toil, at which he toils under the sun?” So true life is to be laid hold of, our investments are to be transferred to the place of true life, so that we may find there what we give here. The one who transforms us also transforms those investments.

Source: SERMON 61:11
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 1:3
If it is a vain thing to do good works for the sake of human praise, how much more vain for the sake of getting money, or increasing it, or retaining it, and any other temporal advantage, which comes unto us from without? Since “all things are vanity: what is man’s abundance, with all his toil, wherein he labors under the sun?” For our temporal welfare itself finally we ought not to do our good works but rather for the sake of that everlasting welfare which we hope for, where we may enjoy an unchangeable good, which we shall have from God, nay, what God himself is unto us. For if God’s saints were to do good works for the sake of this temporal welfare, never would the martyrs of Christ achieve a good work.

Source: EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 119:38
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:4
What good does the possessor of many acres gain in the end, except that the foolish person thinks his own that which never belongs to him? Seemingly, in his greed he is ignorant that “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof,” and that “God is king of all the earth.” It is the passion of having which gives people a false title of lordship over that which can never belong to them. “The earth,” says the wise Preacher, “abides for ever,” ministering to every generation, first one, then another, that is born upon it. People, though they are so little even their own masters, because they are brought into life without knowing it by their Maker’s will and before they wish are withdrawn from it, nevertheless in their excessive vanity think that they are life’s lords and think that they, now born, now dying, rule that which remains continually.

Source: ON VIRGINITY 4
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Ecclesiastes 1:4
By the will of God, therefore, the earth remains immovable. “The earth stands forever,” according to Ecclesiastes, yet it is moved and nods according to the will of God. It does not therefore continue to exist because based on its own foundations. It does not stay stable because of its own props. The Lord established it by the support of his will, because “in his hand are all the ends of the earth.” The simplicity of this faith is worth all the proffered proofs.

Source: SIX DAYS OF CREATION 1:6.22
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 1:4
The sun has existed since it was created and will exist and be one and the same as long as God wants it. But if I say … that humankind remains forever, I do not mean one and the same human being but the whole succession of generations. The same is true for other mortal beings and plants.… One generation goes and one generation comes. The generation that goes is destroyed by death; the one that comes is the one that is born.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:4
"A
generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever."
While some men die, others are born, and those you had seen, are not
seen anymore, and you then see those who have not been before. What is more vain than this vanity, than that
the earth remains, which was made on account of mankind? And that man himself, the master of the earth,
should be suddenly returned to the dust?
Another meaning of this is: the first generation of Jews dies and a
generation formed from all peoples takes its place; but the earth however will
remain for so long as the Synagogue's influence slips away, and the Church
becomes more powerful. For when it was
predicted that the Gospel would be known all around the world, then, it was
said, would be the end. When the end is
approaching, it is true, the sky and the earth will pass away. Solomon very precisely does not say the earth
remains "through the ages" [Hier.. "in saeculis"]
but "through that age" [Hier.. "in saeculo"]. More precisely we praise the Lord not in one
age, but throughout the ages.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 398] Didymus the Blind on Ecclesiastes 1:5
The sun of righteousness rises in the soul. The beginning of its rise is preparatory. It is a preparatory enlightenment. But when it circles around the whole soul and enlightens it altogether so that nothing is outside the light any more, then the soul is in perfect enlightenment. For often it sets in order to rise again. Sunset and sunrise are in accordance with its progress. And sunset and sunrise are united with respect to its location. The second enlightenment means sunset with respect to the previous enlightenment, but it means sunrise with respect to the enlightenment now beginning.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 13:12
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:5
"The sun
rises and the sun sets, then it rushes to its place, where it rises again." The
sun itself, which is given as light for mankind, shows the orbit of the world
by its rising and it setting every day.
After the sun has soaked its burning orb in the ocean, it returns by
routes unknown to me to that place whence it had come; and when the period of
night is over, it again bursts out quickly from its bed. In place of "rushes to its place"
though, because we are following the Vulgate version, the Hebrew reads ""soeph"" which Aquila interpreted as "eispnei" in Greek, that is "pants [Hier.. "aspirat"]";
Symmachus and Theodotion write '"returns"'
because the sun clearly turns around to its original place and it aspires to
return there, from whence it had come earlier.
But all of this is explained so that he can teach that with the passage
of time and the rising and the setting of the stars man's age slips away and
perishes, yet he does not know this for certain. Another meaning of this is: the sun of
righteousness, in whose wings lies reason, rises from those who fear and sets
midday in the false prophets. But when
it has risen it takes us to its place.
Where is that? Evidently it means
to the Lord himself, for it happens that he raises us from the earth to heaven,
saying, "when the son of man is lifted up, he will lift up all things to
him". [John 12, 32.] Nor is it surprising that the son lifts up
men to himself, when even the Lord himself lifts up to his son: "for no
one", he says "comes to me except the Father, who sent me, draw
him". [John 6, 44.] That sun therefore, which we have said sets
for some and rises for other, and once set for Jacob the patriarch as he was
leaving the Holy Land, rose again for him when he entered the promised land
from Syria. When Lot too left Sodom and
came to the city, which he was commanded to hasten to, he climbed a mountain
and the sun came out above Segor [Cfr. Gen. 28, 11; 32, 31.].

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 600] Olympiodorus of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:5
The great sun, when compared with the Sun of righteousness, is vanity.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:5
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:6
"It goes
to the South and rotates to the North; turning, revolving, the wind goes and
returns upon its circuits." From this we are able to believe
that the sun approaches the meridian quarter in the time of winter, and in the
summer is near to the Great Bear, and does not commence its movements in the
equinox of autumn, but when the west wind is blowing in the time of spring,
when all things give birth. But he
actually says "turning, revolving, the wind goes and returns upon its
circuits" as if he calls the sun itself a breath, like an animal that
breathes and lives, completing its annual orbit in its course, just like the
poet Vergil says: "Meanwhile the sun flies around the great year" [Aeneid 3.284]
and elsewhere [Vergil Georg. 2. 402.]
"and the year flies through its own footsteps" or that bright sphere
of the moon and Titan's star: "The breath nourishes within: and the
intelligence stirs the whole mass infused through the limbs, and mingles itself
with the mighty body" [Vergil Aeneid, 6. 726-7.]. He is not speaking about the annual course of
the sun, but its daily path. For it
proceeds sidelong and towards the North, and thus turns to the East. Another meaning of this verse is: when the
sun moves to the South it is closer to the Earth; when it moves to the North it
is raised to higher orbits. Perhaps
therefore it moves to those parts, which are compressed together by the cold of
atmospheric disturbances, and of winter.
Severe heat indeed blazes out from the North above the Earth, and that
sun is closer to righteousness than those men who in fact live in the Northern
region, and who are deprived of summer's heat.
The sun then moves far away and turns by its circuits to the place
whence it set out. For when it has
subdued all things to it and illuminated all things with its rays, let there be
the first restoration and "God may be all in all". [I Cor. 15, 28.] Symmachus interpreted this phrase saying, 'it
goes to the meridian, and turns around to the North; turning the wind goes, and
the wind returns by those routes by which it had come around'.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 600] Olympiodorus of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:6
According to the narrative he calls the sun wind, due to the speed of its movement.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:6
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on Ecclesiastes 1:7
The waters that the earth drank on the first day were not salty. Even if these waters were like the deep on the surface of the earth, they were not yet seas. For it was in the seas that these waters, which were not salty before being gathered together, became salty. When they were sent throughout the entire earth for the earth to drink they were sweet, but when they were gathered into seas on the third day, they became salty, lest they become stagnant due to their being gathered together, and so that they might receive the rivers that enter into them without increasing. For the quantity that a sea requires for nourishment is the measure of the rivers that flow down into it. Rivers flow down into seas lest the heat of the sun dry them up. The saltiness [of the seas] then swallows up [the rivers] lest they increase, rise up and cover the earth. Thus the rivers turn into nothing, as it were, because the saltiness of the sea swallows them up.

Source: COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 1:10.2
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Ecclesiastes 1:7
As for the sea, if I had felt no wonder at its size, I should have felt it for its stillness, at the way it stands free within its proper limits. If its stillness had not moved my admiration, its size must have done. Since both aspects move me, I shall praise the power involved in both. What binding force brought the sea together? What causes it to swell yet stay in position, as if in awe of the land its neighbor? How can it take in all rivers and stay the same through sheer excess of quantity?—I know no other explanation. Why does so great an element have sand as its frontier? Can natural philosophers, with their futile cleverness, give any account of it, when they actually take the sea’s vast measurements with pint size pots of their own ideas? Or shall I give you the short answer from Scripture, the one more credible, more real, than their long arguments? “He made his command a boundary for the face of the waters.” This command is what binds the elemental water. What makes it carry the sailor in his little boat with a little wind—do you not find it a marvelous sight, does not your mind stand amazed at it?—to bind land and sea with business and commerce and unify for humanity such very different things? What springs do the first springs have? Look for them and see if you, a man, can discover or track one down. Who parted plains and hills with rivers and gave them free course? How do we get a miracle from opposites—from a sea that does not get out and rivers that do not stand still? What feeds the waters, what different kinds of food do they get? Some are nourished with rain, others drink with their roots—if I may use a rich metaphor to describe the richness of God.

Source: ON THEOLOGY, THEOLOGICAL ORATION 2 (28).27
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:7
You, whose period of struggle is short, do not become more lifeless than the earth, do not become more unthinking than the insensible, for you are endowed with thought and directed by reason toward life. Instead, as the apostle says, “Continue in the things you have learned and been convinced of,” in that steadfast and immoveable stability, since this also is one of the divine commands, that you “be steadfast and immoveable.” Let your sobriety abide unshaken, your faith firm, your love constant, your stability in every good thing unmoved, so that the earth in you may stand to eternity. But if any one, yearning for greater possessions and letting his desire become as boundless as a sea, has an insatiable greed for the streams of gain flowing in from every side, let him treat his disease by looking at the real sea. For … the sea does not exceed its boundary with the innumerable streams of water flowing into it but remains at the same volume, just as though it were receiving no new water from streams. In the same way human nature too, restricted by specific limits in the enjoyment of what comes to it, cannot enlarge its appetite to match the extent of its acquisitions; while the intake is endless, the capacity for enjoyment is kept within its set limit.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:7
The sea is a receptacle for water which tends to flow everywhere; water never ceases to flow while the sea never grows larger. What is the goal of the water’s course which always fills the unquenchable sea? What is this influx of water which never fills the ever-constant sea? Ecclesiastes speaks like this that he may explain the insubstantiality of our frenzied pursuits which result from elements constituting man’s existence. If the sun’s course consists in this, it too has no limit; neither is there any succession between day and night, and the earth is condemned to remain ever unmoved. The rivers also labor in vain, for they are consumed by the insatiable sea which receives this constant inflow to no avail. If this is true, what about man who is subject to such elements? Why are we astonished at the rise and fall of a generation which follows a natural course because a generation of men always succeeds the one before it and so forth? What does Ecclesiastes cry out to the church? That you, oh man, who contemplate the universe, should understand your own nature. The wonders you behold in heaven or on earth, the sun or sea, should help explain your human nature. Sunrise and sunset resemble our human nature because they both have in common the one course [circle] of life. When we come into existence, we later return to our natural place. Once our life sets, our light passes under the earth which then lays hold of it.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:7
The time of your struggle is short. Do not be more inanimate than the earth nor more foolish than [beasts] which lack feeling, for you are endowed with reason and the capacity to administer. Rather, as the Apostle says, “Continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of” in steadfastness and constant stability. Since these words refer to the divine commands, “be steadfast and unmovable,” allow temperance to abide in your life along with firm faith, constant love and stability in every kind of beauty, that you may resemble the earth’s eternal stability. If anyone is greedy like the ocean with its expansive, boundedness desire which the inflow of waters cannot satisfy, let one be cured of his illness by looking upon the ocean. In this way he will not transgress his own bounds in the multitude of waters but will retain the same fullness without the addition of more water. In similar fashion pleasures arising from human nature with its present limit cannot expand its gluttonous appetite to keep pace with their great number; rather, the influx [of pleasures] does not cease even though our capacity for enjoyment is limited.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:7
"All torrents flow into the sea but the sea is not filled. To the place from which the torrents come,
there they return to go." Some men believe that the fresh waters that
flow into the sea are either dried up by the burning sun above, or are feed for
the salt-thirsty sea. Here our Ecclesiastes,
the creator of the very waters, says that they return to the heads of the
springs by means of hidden passages, and always boil out from their deep
channels into their springs. The Hebrews
believed that the rivers or sea had more significance in the metaphor of man,
because they return to the earth, whence they originated. They are also called torrents not rivers
because they flow that much more forcefully, yet the earth however is not
filled with a great number of dead men.
More precisely if we go down to the deeper parts, the turbid waters
return to the sea where they used to remain.
And unless I am mistaken, apart from the additions to the text, nowhere
is the word 'torrent' found in a good context.
For "you will drink those with the torrent of your desire" [Psalms 35, 9.],
although "of desire" is written in an addition. On the contrary the Saviour was taken to the
brook Cedron [John 18,1.],
and Elisha at the time of persecution hid away in the brook of Chorat, which
even dried up. But the sea is not filled
up completely, in the same manner as the bloodthirsty daughters in Proverbs [Prov. 30, 15.].

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Ecclesiastes 1:8
Therefore incline to him of whom the psalmist says, “He has not taken his soul in vain.” To speak now of the troubles of this life, the person has taken his soul in vain who is constructing the things of the world and building the things of the body. We arise each day to eat and drink; yet no one is filled so that he does not hunger and thirst after a short time. Daily we seek profit, and to greed there is set no limit. “The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing.” He that loves silver will not be satisfied with silver. There is no limit to toil, and there is no profit in abundance. We desire each day to know what is new, and what is knowledge itself but our daily sorrow and abasement?

Source: DEATH AS A GOOD 7:28
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:8
"All
things are full of toil, man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with
seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing.
"It is difficult
to know not just about physics but also about ethics. And discourse is not able to explain the
natural causes of things, nor to see those things that are hidden, (as the
scope of this work demands); nor, once you have begun to learn is it possible to
arrive at the greatest understanding by listening alone. For if we now look in the mirror in mystery
and in part know and in part prophesy, consequently discourse will not be able
to explain what it does not know; nor is the eye able to see where it is blind;
nor are the ears filled by what they do not hear. At the same time this must be noted, that all
words are wearying and are learnt with great difficulty, contrary to those who
idly make prayers that an acquaintance with the Scriptures will come to them.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 600] Olympiodorus of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:8
All writings, both of secular and of divine wisdom, yield instruction when effort is applied.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:8
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:9
It is probably in this way that, so far as our weakness allows, we shall maintain a reverent belief about God, neither asserting that his creatures were unbegotten and coeternal with him nor that he turned to the work of creation to do good when he had done nothing good before. For the saying that is written, “In wisdom you have made all things,” is a true one. And certainly if “all things have been made in wisdom,” then since wisdom has always existed, there have always existed in wisdom, by a prefiguration and preformation, those things which afterwards have received substantial existence. This is, I believe, the thought and meaning of Solomon when he says in Ecclesiastes, “What is it that has been made? The same that is to be. And what is it that has been created? The same that is destined to be created. And there is nothing fresh under the sun. If one should speak of anything and say, Behold, this is new: it already has been, in the ages that were before us.” If then particular things which are “under the sun” have already existed in the ages which were before us—since “there is nothing fresh under the sun”—then all universal categories have forever existed, and some would say even individual things; but either way, it is clear that God did not begin to create after spending a period in idleness.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:4.5
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:9
We say that not then for the first time did God begin to work when he made this visible world; but as, after its destruction, there will be another world, so also we believe that others existed before the present came into being. And both of these positions will be confirmed by the authority of Holy Scripture. For that there will be another world after this is taught by Isaiah, who says, “There will be new heavens, and a new earth, which I shall make to abide in my sight, says the Lord.” And that before this world others also existed65 is shown by Ecclesiastes, in the words “What is that which has been? Even that which shall be. And what is that which has been created? Even this which is to be created: and there is nothing altogether new under the sun. Who shall speak and declare, Lo, this is new? It has already been in the ages which have been before us.” By these testimonies it is established both that there were ages before our own and that there will be others after it. It is not, however, to be supposed that several worlds existed at once but that, after the end of this present world, others will take their beginning.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3:5.3
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:9
Let none of those listening think that there is a longwinded and meaningless repetition of words in the distinction between what has come to be and what has been made. The text points out in each of the expressions the difference between the soul and the flesh. The soul has come to be, and the body has been made. It is not because the words have two different meanings that the text uses this distinction of terminology for each of the things referred to. But [it does so] to enable you to reckon what is advantageous in each case. The soul came to be in the beginning the same as it will again appear hereafter, when it has been purified. The body shaped by the hands of God was made what the resurrection of the dead in due time will reveal it to be. For such as you may see it after the resurrection of the dead, just such it was made at the first. The resurrection of the dead is nothing but the complete restoration of the original state.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:9
Let no one listening to these words think that much talk and the repetition of words is vanity by the distinction between what is and what had been, for they demonstrate the difference between body and soul. Although the meaning of terms does not differ that much, the text does make a distinction to clearly manifest the difference for you. The soul existed right from the beginning; it had been purified in the past and will appear in the future. God fashioned the human body and will show the resurrection at the proper time, for that which comes after the resurrection was indeed fashioned first. The resurrection is nothing other than the restoration [apokatastasis.] of all things to their original state.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:9
"The
thing that has been, it is that which will be.
And that which is done is that which shall be done. And there is no new thing under the sun." It seems to me that he now speaks generally about those
things that he enumerated above: about generation after generation, the globe
of the earth, the rising and setting of the sun, the course of rivers, the
vastness of the ocean and all things which we learn either through thought or
through sight or hearing, because there is nothing in nature that has not been
before. For from the beginning of the
world men have been born and have died, and the earth stood level above the
waters and the sun lay in its origin.
And lest I should go on to list more things, it is left to God as
creator to fly with the birds, to swim with the fish, and walk with the
creatures of the earth and slide with snakes.
And the comic [Terence Eunuchus, prol. 41.]
said something similar to this: "Nothing has been said, which has not been
said before", about which my teacher Donatus, when he was lecturing about
this verse, said: "Let them die, who have said our words before us." [Donatus Comm. in Terent. Eun.]
Then if is possible to say nothing new in discourse, how great the creation of
the world must have been, which has been complete right from the start, that
God was able to rest from his work on the seventh day! Read also in another book: "If
everything that is done under the sun has already been done is past centuries,
and man was already made when the sun was made: then man existed before he came
under the sun." [Origines peri Archon III 5, 3.] But he is excluded, because by this reasoning
even packhorses, gnats, and each insect and large animal is said to have been
made before the sky. Unless however he
should reply that talking comes from the consequences of speaking not about
other animals but about the man Ecclesiastes, for he says "there is nothing
new under the sun about which one can say 'look this is new!' But he does not speak of animals but of man
alone, because if he means animals to be new, then he refutes his own opinion
that nothing is new under the sun.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 1:9
There are some people who want to twist even a famous passage in the book of Solomon, called Ecclesiastes, into a defense of these recurring cycles of universal dissolution and re-evocation of the past: “What is it that has been? The same thing that shall be. What is it that has been done? The same that shall be done. Nothing under the sun is new, neither is anyone able to say, ‘Behold, this is new,’ for it has already gone before in the ages that were before us.” But here Solomon was speaking either of things he had just been discussing—the succession of generations, the revolution of the sun, the course of rivers—or, at any rate, of those creatures in general that come to life and die. For example, there were people before us, they are with us now, and they shall come after us. And the same is true of animals and plants. Even monstrosities that are abnormal at birth, different as they are among themselves and, in certain cases, unique, nevertheless, inasmuch as they come under the heading of prodigies and monsters, have existed before and will exist again. Consequently, it is nothing new or even of recent date that a monster should be born under the sun. However, there are some who interpret the words to mean that what Solomon had in mind was that, in the predestination of God, everything is already a fact and, in that sense, there is nothing new under the sun.Far be it from us Christians, however, to believe that these words of Solomon refer to those cycles by which, as these philosophers suppose, the same periods of time and sequence of events will be repeated. For example, the philosopher Plato having taught in a certain age at the school of Athens called the Academy, even so, through innumerable ages of the past at long but definite intervals, this same Plato and the same city, the same school and the same disciples all existed and will all exist again and again through innumerable ages of the future. Far be it from us, I say, to believe this.
For Christ died once for our sins; and “having risen from the dead, dies now no more, death shall no longer have dominion over him.” And we after the resurrection “shall ever be with the Lord,” to whom we say, as the holy psalmist reminds us, “You, Oh Lord, will preserve us: and keep us from this generation forever.” And the verse that follows, I think, may be suitably applied to these philosophers: “The wicked walk round about.” These words do not mean that their life will repeatedly recur in cycle after cycle as they think but that here and now the way of their errors, that is, their false doctrine, goes around in circles.

Source: City of God 12.14
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:10
"Is
there anything whereof it may be said, see this is new? It has already been for
ages, which were before us. "Symmachus translated this more clearly:
"Do you think there is a man who is able to say: look this is new, it has
already been done before because it was before us." But he agrees with his predecessors that
there is nothing new in the world, and that there is none that is able to live
and say: 'look this is new', since everything that he thought he had shown to
be new, already existed in former times.
But we ought not to think that the signs, prodigies and the many deeds
which are done for the first time by God's judgement in the world today, have
already been done before in former ages, or that it was Epicurus who found
this, asserting that these same things were done in innumerable periods and in
these places and by these same men.
Besides, both Judas betrayed "repeatedly"
and Christ "often" suffered for us; and
other things which have been done and will be done, are continually repeated in
these times. But it could be said too,
that those things, which will be done have already been done, decided out of
foreknowledge and the predestination of God.
For those who have been chosen in Christ before the constitution of the
world existed already in previous times.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:11
If oblivion has overtaken things which were, do not be surprised; for those that now are will also be veiled in oblivion. When our nature inclined to evil we became forgetful of the good; when we are set free again for the good, evil in turn will be veiled in oblivion. For I think this is the meaning of the text, in which he says, “There is no memory for the first, and indeed for those who come last there will be no memory of them.” It is as if he were saying that the memory of events which followed our blessed state at the beginning, through which humanity has come to be among evils, will be obliterated by what again supervenes at the end. For “there will be no memory of them with those who have come to be at the last.” That means, the final restoration will make the memory of evil things utterly vanish in our nature, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:11
If they are swallowed up in oblivion, do not wonder because the present will suffer the same fate. Because nature tends towards evil, we are forgetful of the good; but when enjoyment of the good returns, oblivion envelopes evil. We have no remembrance of the first and last things which is as though he said that the events which introduced evil after man’s original blessed state will erase the memory the last things. No such memory will exist in the future; the last state [hē eschatē katastasis] will utterly destroy the memory of evil deeds in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:11
"There is
no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of
things that are to come with those that shall come after." In the same
way as the past is concealed for us in forgetfulness, thus it is with those
things which are either done now, or will be done. And because of this those men who have yet to
be born, will not be able to know these things, and will live life in silence,
and will be obscured as if they never existed, and that verse will be
fulfilled, which says, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity", for even
the Seraphim, the first and last, cover up their feet on account of the
appearance of God. The Septuagint is
similar here: "There is no memory of former things, and even of things
which are to come, there will be no memory for them with those who will come
after." That is observed from the
Gospel because those who were first in time are first "before all others". [Cfr Matth. 20, 16.] And because God who is benevolent and
forgiving remembers all things no matter how insignificant, he will not give as
much glory to those who deserve to be first on account of their faults, as he
will give to those who humbly wanted to be first. And so it says consequently: "there is
no memory of the wise more than of the fool for ever." [Eccl. 2, 16.]

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:12
We have learned who the Ecclesiast is, he who unites what has gone astray and has been scattered abroad, and makes it all one church and one flock, that none may be deaf to the shepherd’s kindly voice, which gives life to all. For “the words which I speak,” he says, “are spirit and are life.” This is the one who calls himself Ecclesiast, just as he calls himself “Physician,” and “Life,” and “Resurrection,” and “Light,” and “Way,” and “Door,” and “Truth,” and all the names of his love for humankind. … What does the Ecclesiast say? “I have become King over Israel in Jerusalem.” When is this? Surely when “he was set up as king by him on Mount Zion, his holy mountain, proclaiming the Lord’s commandment.” To him the Lord said, “You are my Son,” and “Today I have begotten you.” He says that today he has begotten the Maker of all, the Father of the ages, so that by applying a temporal term to the moment of his birth, the text might demonstrate not his existence before the ages but his fleshly birth in time, for the salvation of humankind.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:12
We now learn the identity of Ecclesiastes who gathers into one what is scattered and dispersed. He makes one flock and church in order that everyone may hear the Shepherd’s lovely voice who bestows life to all. “The words that I speak are spirit and life.” [Christ] calls himself Ecclesiastes that he might be doctor, life, resurrection, light, way, gate, truth and any other benevolent name for humankind. What does he say? “I have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.” At what time? Was it not when God set up a king in holy Mount Zion to proclaim his precepts? Of him the Lord says “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” The Maker of all things, the eternal Father, said that he begot him today. Thus this temporal name does not refer to [Christ’s] eternal essence but to a birth through the flesh in time for man’s salvation.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:12
"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.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 270] Gregory of Neocaesarea on Ecclesiastes 1:13
I thoughtfully examined and wisely learned the nature of everything on earth. I discovered that it was all very complex, because human beings are allowed to toil away on earth, wallowing about uselessly in various kinds of pretentious effort at various times.

Source: PARAPHRASE OF ECCLESIASTES 1:13
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:13
These are the things which the true Ecclesiast recounts as he teaches, so I believe, the great mystery of salvation, the reason why God was revealed in flesh. “I gave my heart,” he says, “to enquiring into and investigating by wisdom all that had come about under the heaven.” This is the reason for the Lord’s fleshly coming to dwell with humankind, to give his heart to investigating in his own wisdom what has come about under the heaven. What is above the heaven had no need of investigation, just as there is no need of a medical attendant for what is not in the grip of illness. So because the evils were on earth—for the creeping animal, the serpent which “crawls on its breast and on its belly,” makes the earth its food, eating nothing from heaven; as it crawls on trodden ground it always looks at what treads on it, “watching for the traveler’s heel” and injecting its venom into those who have lost “the power to tread upon serpents”—for this reason he gave his “heart to enquiring into and investigating all that has come about under the heaven.”
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:13
I think that the true Ecclesiastes next teaches about the great mystery of salvation when God manifested himself in the flesh. “I applied my heart to seek out and examine by wisdom all things done under heaven.” The reason for our Lord’s dwelling with men is to give his heart over in wisdom to consider his actions done under the sun. For man is not allowed to consider what lies above heaven just as healthy persons do not require doctors. Evil belongs to the earth. A snake is a reptile which crawls on its belly, eats earth instead of food from heaven, crawls on anything trampled down and is always on the prowl. It watches for man’s heel3 and injects poison in those who have lost the power to tread on serpents. For this reason Ecclesiastes gives his heart over to careful consideration of every activity done under heaven.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:13
"I
applied my mind to seek and probe by wisdom all that happens beneath the sky -
it is a sorry task that God has given to the sons of man with which to be
concerned." Aquila, the Septuagint, and Theodotion have
all translated the Hebrew word "anian "similarly
as "peristasmon", which the interpreter
expressed as "occupied" in Latin [Hier.. "in distentionem".],
because the mind of man is torn asunder when occupied by several
anxieties. But Symmachus uses the Greek
word "ascholian", which means business [Hier.. "occupationem".]. Since therefore in this book it is more often
called either "occupationem", or "distentionem", or whatever else we have
called it, they all refer to the higher senses. Ecclesiastes therefore set his mind first of
all to the acquisition of wisdom, and pursuing this beyond what is allowed,
wanted to know the causes and reasoning why children are easily snatched by the
Devil; why the righteous and the wicked are equally punished in shipwrecks; and
whether these events happen as a result of fate, or by the decree of God. And if by fate, where is providence? If by
decree, where is God's justice? With
such desire to know these things, he said, I understand the great care and
torturing anxiety experienced in many things, which was given to man by God, in
order that he might desire to know that which he is not allowed to know. But the cause is inborn first, and God then
gives vexation. For it is written
similarly in the epistles to the Romans: ""On account of what did God give them up to the suffering of dishonour?""
[Rom. 1, 6.]
then again he says: ""On account of
what did He give them up to uncleanness, so that they did what was not allowed"". [Rom. 1, 28.] And then: ""On account of which God gave them up to desire for their uncleanness"". [Rom. 1, 24.] And to the Thessalonians: ""And for this cause God will send them strong
delusion."" [II Thess. 2, 10.] But the causes why they succumb were revealed
earlier: either by the suffering of dishonour, or by vile affections, or by the
longing in their heart, or whatever it is they do to receive strong
delusion. In this way and because of
their effectiveness God gave this wicked 'occupation' to man, with which to be
concerned, because he did these things first voluntarily and entirely of his
own will.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:14
This then is the “vanity” to which the creation was subjected, and above all that creation which is certainly the greatest thing in this world and which holds a distinguished preeminence by reason of its function. That is, the sun, moon and stars are said to have been subjected to vanity, because they were clothed with bodies and set to perform the task of giving light to the human race. And this creation, Scripture says, was subjected to vanity “not of its own will.” For it did not undertake a service to vanity by the exercise of free will but in obedience to the wish of him who was subjecting it, because he who subjected it promised those who were being given over unwillingly to vanity that on the fulfillment of their splendid work of service they should be delivered from this bondage of corruption and vanity, when the time of redemption “of the glory of the sons of God” should have come. Having received this hope, and looking for the fulfillment of this promise, the entire creation now in the meantime “groans together” with us (for it even has sympathy with those whom it serves) and “is in pain together,” while in patience it hopes for what has been promised.

Source: ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:7.5
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Ecclesiastes 1:14
“I have seen everything,” says Ecclesiastes. I have reviewed in my mind all human things, wealth, luxury, power, glory that is not stable, wisdom that eludes us more often than it is mastered; again pleasure, again wisdom, often returning full circle to the same things, delights of the belly, orchards, numbers of slaves, a multitude of possessions, male and female table servants, singing men and singing women, arms, henchmen, nations at one’s feet, revenues flowing in, the pride of royalty, all life’s superfluities and necessities, in which I surpassed all the kings who were before me. And after all this what is his judgment? “All is vanity of vanities, all is vanity and vexation of spirit,” that is, a kind of irrational impulse of soul and distraction of man who has been condemned to this perhaps because of the original fall. But “hear all the conclusion of my discourse,” he says; “fear God.” Through this he ceases from perplexity. And this alone is your gain from life here, to be brought through the confusion of things that are seen and unstable to things which are firm and immovable. ON HIS BROTHER ST.

Source: CAESARIUS, ORATION 7:19
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:14
He came, then, to enquire by his own wisdom what has come about under the sun, what the confusion is of things here on earth, how being became the slave of nonbeing, how the unreal dominates being. And he saw that evil distress God gave to the sons of man, for them to be distressed with. This does not mean, as one might assume at first glance, that it is devout to think that God gave evil distress to people, for then the responsibility for ills would be laid on him.… What the more devout understanding is disposed to think is this: that the good gift of God, that is, freedom of action, became a means to sin through the sinful use humankind made of it. For unfettered free will is good by nature, and nobody would reckon among good things anything that was constrained by the yoke of necessity. But that free impulse of the mind rushing unschooled toward the choice of evil became a source of distress for the soul, as it was dragged down from the sublime and honorable toward the urges of the natural passions.… [Therefore] a correct understanding does not conclude that anything bad has been put in human nature by God but blames our capacity to choose, which is in itself a good thing. [It is] a gift of God granted to our nature, but through folly it has become a force tipping the balance the opposite way.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:14
Ecclesiastes has come to search through his own wisdom those actions done under the sun, their confusion, why things are subject to nonexistence and how that which is insubstantial prevails against being. He knew that “God has given to the sons of men an evil trouble to be vexed with.” This is not a pious deed we can readily understand because God has given an evil to the sons of men in order to trouble them; and so one may attribute the cause of evil to God.… A more pious understanding suggests that God bestows upon man the gift of free will which he abused and then became an instrument for sin. This free will is good and subject to no one, while anything subject to necessity should not be counted as good. But any impulse coming from the mind is free; it distracts the soul to choose evil and pulls it down to passion from the lofty honors it had received.… An accurate understanding of these verses does not mean that human nature lacks anything unbecoming from God; rather, they censure our power of free choice which in itself is good and a gift bestowed by God to human nature. But as a result of indiscretion, free will inclines towards the opposite way.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:14
"I have
seen all the deeds done underneath the sun, and behold all is futile and a
vexation of the spirit." We are compelled here by necessity to examine
the Hebrew words more closely than we wish.
It is also not possible to know the real meaning of the text, unless we
learn it through studying the original Hebrew words. Aquila and Theodotion translate "routh
"as the Greek "nomen", Symmachus
has "boskesin". The Septuagint does not
express the Hebrew meaning, but the Syriac, as shown in the Greek word "proairesin". Therefore either "nome", or "boskesis", is the
noun coming from "vexation." "Proairesis
"sounds more like 'will' than 'vexation'.
Every single man however is said to do what he "wishes", and what seems right to him; and men are borne with different dispositions (i.e.
good and wicked) of their own free will.
And all things under the sun are vain, when we displease each other by
doing what is the greatest good and greatest evil. A Hebrew, who was instructing me as I read
the Holy Scriptures, said to me that above the word "routh" was written ""it
means rather suffering and wickedness in this place than vexation and will"",
and the meaning does not come from the evil which is contrary to good, but from
that which is written in the Gospel: ""Sufficient
to the day is its wickedness."" [Matth. 6, 34.] The Greeks call this more significantly "kakouchian", so the verse essentially
means: "I have considered all things, which are done in the world, and I
discovered nothing except vanity and wickedness, that is distress of the soul,
by which the spirit is afflicted in contrary thoughts.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 1:14
We read in Scripture concerning the striving after temporal things, “All is vanity and presumption of spirit,” but presumption of spirit means audacity and pride. Usually also the proud are said to have great spirits, and rightly, inasmuch as the wind also is called spirit. And hence it is written, “Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirit of tempest.” But, indeed, who does not know that the proud are spoken of as puffed up, as if swelled out with wind? And hence also that expression of the apostle, “Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies.” And “the poor in spirit” are rightly understood here, as meaning the humble and God-fearing, that is, those who have not the spirit which puffs up. Nor ought blessedness to begin at any other point whatever, if indeed it is to attain unto the highest wisdom. “But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”; for, on the other hand also, “pride” is entitled “the beginning of all sin.” Let the proud, therefore, seek after and love the kingdoms of the earth, but “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Source: SERMON ON THE MOUNT 1:1.3
[AD 749] John Damascene on Ecclesiastes 1:14
So, following the teachings of these blessed saints, we utterly renounce these corruptible and perishable things of life, wherein may be found nothing stable or constant, or that continues in one stay. But all things are vanity and vexation of spirit, and many are the changes that they bring in a moment, for they are slighter than dreams and a shadow, or the breeze that blows the air. Small and short-lived is their charm, that is after all no charm, but illusion and deception of the wickedness of the world; which world we have been taught to love not at all but rather to hate with all our heart. Yes, and truly it is worthy of hatred and abhorrence; for whatsoever gifts it gives to its friends, these in turn in passion it takes away and shall hand over its victims, stripped of all good things, clad in the garment of shame, and bound under heavy burdens, to eternal tribulation. And those again whom it exalts, it quickly abases to the utmost wretchedness, making them a footstool and a laughing stock for their enemies. Such are its charms, such its bounties.

Source: BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 12:109-10
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Ecclesiastes 1:15
He is upright in heart who does not have his mind inclined to excess or to deficiency but directs his endeavors toward the mean of virtue. He who has turned aside from valor to something less becomes crooked through cowardice, but he who has strained on to greater things inclines toward temerity. Therefore the Scripture calls those “crooked” who go astray from the middle way by excess or by deficiency. For, as a line becomes crooked when its straightforward direction is deflected, now convexly, now concavely, so also a heart becomes crooked when it is at one time exalted through boastfulness, at another dejected through afflictions and humiliations. Wherefore Ecclesiastes says, “The crooked will not be kept straight.”

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 11:7 (PSALM 7)
[AD 399] Evagrius Ponticus on Ecclesiastes 1:15
The number by which God numbers the saints displays a certain and determined spiritual order, as it is said, “He numbers the multitudes of stars; and calls them all by name.” … Now, if David says, the understanding of God is without number, it is not as though it were unworthy of God’s essence that it cannot be numbered, or because the nature of such a number cannot be comprehended. For, just as the word invisible has two meanings: first, when applied to something that by its very nature is invisible (e.g., God), and second, when applied to something that may be visible yet is not normally seen, like the ocean floor because it is hidden under waters; similarly, “innumerable” has two meanings: what cannot be numbered by nature and what cannot be numbered for some other reason.

Source: SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 6:1.15
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:15
"A
twisted thing cannot be made straight, and what is not there cannot be
numbered. "Whoever is wicked cannot be corrected,
unless he was corrected beforehand.
Anything that is already correct will receive embellishment; and that
which is deviated will receive correction.
A man is not called wrong unless he has been diverted from the correct
path. This is contrary to the heretics,
who entertained certain characteristics, which do not seem to be sane. And since what is missing is lacking, it
cannot be numbered. Besides, only the
firstborn of Israel were counted. The
women, slaves, children and the people from Egypt, although of a great number,
were largely overlooked, being referred to as a reduction from the army,
without a number. The meaning of this
can also be: such wickedness is done in the sphere of the world that the world
is scarcely able to return to its completely good condition; nor is it able to
regain easily its order and complete state, in which it was first created. Another meaning of this is: when all men have
been restored to goodness through repentance, only the devil will remain in his
wickedness. For all things which are
done under the sun are done by his will and in the spirit of malevolence, while
sins are piled on sins at his instigation.
Then it can also mean: so great is the number of deviants and of those
who have been taken away from God's flock by the devil that it is impossible to
count them.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 1:16
Therefore it is written in Ecclesiastes, “And I added wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem; and my heart saw many things; and besides, I knew wisdom and knowledge, parables and understanding. And this also is the choice of the spirit, because in abundance of wisdom is abundance of knowledge.” He who is conversant with all kinds of wisdom will be preeminently reliant upon knowledge. Now it is written, “Abundance of the knowledge of wisdom will give life to him who is of it.” And again, what is said is confirmed more clearly by this saying, “All things are in the sight of those who understand”—all things, both hellenic and barbarian; but the one or the other is not all. “They are right to those who wish to receive understanding. Choose instruction, and not silver, and knowledge above tested gold,” and prefer also sense to pure gold;“for wisdom is better than precious stones, and no precious thing is worth it.”

Source: STROMATEIS 1:13
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:16
What is the way back for the wanderer, and the way of escape from evil, and toward good, we learn next. For he “who has had experience like us in all things, without sin,” speaks to us from our own condition. “He took our weaknesses upon him,” and through these very weaknesses of our nature he shows us the way out of the reach of evil. Now note, please, that Wisdom speaks to us through Solomon himself after the flesh, and speaks about those things by which we may most readily be led to despise the things which are pursued by people.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:16
We next learn about the return of a person who has erred and the change from evil to enjoyment of the good. He [Christ] who has been tempted in all things and is without sin holds converse with us in our human nature. He who assumed our weakness28 showed us a way out of evil through the infirmities of his human nature. “Instruct me in the Wisdom [Christ] according to the Solomon who was in the flesh which held converse with us.” Once familiar with it, we are able to pass judgment on what men pursue.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:16
"I said
to myself: here I have acquired great wisdom, more than any of my predecessors
over Jerusalem, and my mind has had much experience with wisdom and
knowledge." Solomon was not greater than Abraham and
Moses, and other saints, but than those who were before him in Jerusalem. We read in the book of Kings that Solomon was
very wise, and he claimed this wisdom to have been given by God before all
others. [Cfr III Reg. 3, 5 sqq] It was then the eye of his heart that saw
great wisdom and knowledge in the world, since he does not say "I spoke much wisdom and knowledge" but "my heart saw much wisdom and knowledge." For indeed we are not able to speak out all
those things which we feel.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:17
It is Solomon who speaks these words. This Solomon was the third king of Israel, after King Saul and David, the chosen of the Lord. He succeeded his father on the throne and was proclaimed king when the power of the Israelites had already reached its height; he did not go on wearing his people out with war and fighting but lived in peace as far as lay in his power, making it his task not to acquire what did not belong to him but to enjoy what he already had in abundance.… Such is the order he adopts in his account, that first in the early years of his life he devotes his time to education and does not take the easy course in the face of the hard work such study involves but uses the choice of his spirit, that is, his natural impulse, for the accumulation of knowledge, even though his goal was achieved by hard work. And thus, when he has matured in wisdom, he does not merely theoretically observe the passionate and irrational deception of mankind in the matter of bodily enjoyments but through the actual experience of each of the things they pursue recognizes their futility.
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Ecclesiastes 1:17
Solomon is the one speaking here, the third king of Israel whom the Lord had chosen after Saul and David. He received the kingship from his father and extended his rule which brought him renown among the Israelites. Solomon no longer subjected peoples through battle; by conducting himself peacefully and with full authority, he did not devote his energy towards anything not belonging to him.… He claimed to know the efforts needed to attain pleasure and accomplished everything which he had enumerated, an experience which taught him that vanity is the common end of men’s pursuits. Ecclesiastes sets forth the order in his narrative when during his youth he first had leisure for personal training, for attention to such labors does not indicate laxity. But the Spirit uses free will, a movement proper to our nature, to increase knowledge if a person is to succeed in his endeavors. Thus wisdom grows not by considering reason which closely regards passion and unreason when it comes to that deception arising from corporeal enjoyment; rather it is knowledge about vanity through experience of these endeavors.

Source: HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 2
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:17
"I
applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this, too, is a vexation of
the spirit." Contrary abstract ideas are understood by
looking at contrary facts; and " wisdom is the first to be lacking in
foolishness" [Horat. Epist.I, 1,41-42.],
but it is not possible to be lacking in foolishness, unless one has understood
it. Many dangerous things are also
created from foolishness, so that while we try to avoid them, we are actually
instructed in wisdom. Solomon wanted to
know wisdom and knowledge with equal enthusiasm, and equally madness and folly,
so that whilst seeking some things and shunning others, his true wisdom might
be proved. But in this too, as in other
things, he said he found great difficulties and was not able to grasp the exact
truth of matters. What I have said above
about "vexation of the spirit" or "suffering of the soul", as it is more
often written in this book, should be sufficient to understand the rest of this
verse.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 1:18
"For
with much wisdom comes much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases
pain." The more a man seeks wisdom, the more he finds himself
in vice and far from those virtues, which he is seeking. For those who are powerful suffer torments
more gravely [Cfr Sap. 6, 7.],
and more is demanded of the man, to whom more is entrusted. Because of this he increases his pain who
increases his knowledge, and is saddened by grief according to God, and suffers
beyond his offences. The apostle said
concerning this: "and who is there, who gladdens me, unless he is saddened
by me?" [II Cor. 2, 2.] Unless perchance, and this must be
understood, that a wise man would suffer so much for his wisdom, in secret and
deep in his flank, nor would he show himself to prosper in intelligence, as
light is to seeing; but rather through certain torments and intolerable toil,
and through perpetual meditation and enthusiasm.

<h2>CHAPTER 2</h2>

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 1:18
People are accustomed to set a high value on the knowledge of earthly and celestial things. But they are certainly better who prefer the knowledge of themselves to this knowledge. And a mind to which even its own weakness is known is more deserving of praise than one that … is ignorant of the course by which it must proceed to reach its own true health and strength. But one who has been aroused by the warmth of the Holy Spirit … has already awakened to God. In his love for [God, such a person] has already felt his own unworthiness and is willing but is not yet strong enough to come to him. And through the light received from [God, this person] takes heed to himself and finds that his own defilement cannot mingle with his purity. [This person] feels it sweet to weep and to beseech God that he may again and again have pity until he has cast off all his misery. [This person also prays] with confidence as having already received the free gift of salvation through his only Savior and enlightener of humankind. For one who so acts and laments, knowledge does not puff up because charity edifies. He has preferred the one knowledge to the other knowledge; he has preferred to know his own weakness more than to know the walls of the world, the foundations of the earth, and the heights of the heavens. And by acquiring this knowledge he has acquired sorrow, the sorrow arising from his wandering away from the desire of his own true country, and from its founder, his own blessed God.

Source: ON THE TRINITY 4, PREFACE
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ecclesiastes 1:18
It is evident, then, that the oldness of the letter, in the absence of the newness of the spirit, instead of freeing us from sin, rather makes us guilty by the knowledge of sin. [Thus] it is written in another part of Scripture, “He that increases knowledge, increases sorrow.” [It is] not that the law is itself evil, but because the commandment has its good in the demonstration of the letter, not in the assistance of the spirit. And if this commandment is kept from the fear of punishment and not from the love of righteousness, it is kept in a servile manner, not freely, and therefore it is not kept at all. For no fruit is good which does not grow from the root of love.

Source: ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 26