All is Vanity saith the Preacher

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Ecclesiastes 1:1

The Biblical book Ecclesiastes is the collected words of the “Preacher,” part of what is now called Wisdom Literature. In preparation for an upcoming class, I did a little research on the name and its meaning. It’s a little more obscure than it should be.

Duck.ai tells me

The Hebrew word for the title of the book is Qoheleth (קֹהֶלֶת). Its meaning is derived from the root qahal (קהל), which means "assembly" or "congregation." Qoheleth refers to the person who convenes, leads, or speaks to that assembly.

The Hebrew word “qôheleth” is translated as “Preacher” or “Teacher” 7 times in Ecclesiastes. “Qôheleth” does not appear anywhere else in Scripture.

In other words, the name of the book is “Preacher.” The Hebrew “qôheleth” is translated as “Ekklēsiastēs” in Greek, with a bit of transliteration along the way into English.

Duck.ai says, with some parenthetical comments by Gerald:

The word Ekklēsiastēs (Ἐκκλησιαστής) is composed of the following root elements:

Ek (ἐκ) A preposition meaning "out of" or "from." (similar to our prefix in “exit.”)

Kaleō (καλέω) A verb meaning "to call." (Ex: And call (kaleo) no man your father on earth… Mat 23:9)

-tēs (-τής) A masculine suffix used to denote a person who performs a specific action (similar to "-er" or "-ist" in English).

Literally, Ekklēsiastēs means Out-caller, or Out-call-ist.

Ekklēsiastēs is "one who addresses an assembly" or "a speaker to the congregation," which is why the title is translated as "The Preacher."

I hope this makes sense so far. I thought it was kinda cool.

Duck.ai again:

A little more familiar to Christians, ek and kaleō form Ekklēsia (ἐκκλησία), which literally means "a calling out." In ancient Greece, this referred to a summoned assembly of citizens. In a biblical context, it became the standard word for "church" or "congregation."

Example:

So the churches (ekklēsia) were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. Acts 16:5

Note the similarity: Ekklēsiastēs—Ekklesia... Preacher—church.

I've nothing else to add. I really like Ecclesiastes, although some people find it kind of bleak. I think the message we should take away is that this world will never be perfect, so we should plan for the next one.

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:2

I had a poster of this in my distant youth...