[jadar]

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” - Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

[Shellban]

Ecclesiastes is an interesting one. It goes chapter by chapter, trying to find meaning in life through process of elimination, trying education, hedonism, labor, and wealth. While some things (usually wisdom) bring about more joy in the interim, he declares that they all will lose their charm rather quickly. In the end, all joy from these will leave us before death. Solomon's last hope for fulfillment lies in the eternal and supernatural.

[NBJack]

Solomon seems to give a glimpse into a life of "what happens if the only challenges you have are the ones you freely pick?" He had everything one could dream of and more, including an unprecedented era of peace.

Yet he struggled to pass the time. Having the equivalent of billions of [insert favorite currency here], most folks fantasize about the ideal life. We often believe all of our immediate problems go away, free to do whatever we want. Yet, at least in Solomon's case, he seemed to become incredibly fed up with these grand projects and plans of his own devise.

While I certainly wouldn't mind a fraction of that wealth myself, I do recall my college weekends. Free to spend time however I pleased, with my basic needs met and no homework looming, I spent hours playing my favorite video games. And yet, no matter how good they were, I remember how dull and boring they eventually became in only a few hours.

[RetroTechie]

Just a thought I had recently:

Imagine you'd spend your life creating useful inventions, somehow improving this world, helping others, clean up pollution, etc. Making the lives of people currently alive and all their descendants just a little bit more fun, happy, comfortable or interesting.

Now imagine you'd spend your life doing shitty stuff that spoils the fun and makes life miserable for everyone & those that live after you.

Note that "all their descendants" could be many many billions or even trillions+ humans (if humanity manages to not go extinct 'soon'). That's ignoring other living creatures.

With that in mind, wouldn't it be a small sacrifice to put in a bit of effort to not screw things up for those that come after you?

No need to be a saint. It's about finding a balance between having some fun for yourself, while not spoiling the fun for others - presently alive or in the future.

Religion need not enter this consideration. If it helps/comforts anyone to use as guideline, power to them. But a simple "how would future humans look back on my actions?" does the job.

[weregiraffe]

Which God? Yahweh, Jesus, Allah? Brahma, Amaterasu, Ahura Mazda?

[jadar]

The Hebrew word used is Elohim. While the book ever explicitly uses the word, it stands to reason the author is speaking of YHWH, historically rendered as Jehovah or Yahweh. And as Jesus is the Son, the second person of the Trinity, it refers to him as well. The book is written by Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel, and hence it comes smack dab in the middle of the covenant history of Israel. Solomon describes Elohim with attributes of Jehovah throughout the book. He is the creator, sustainer, law-giver, etc. Not to mention the many times in the rest of the Scriptures that use Elohim to refer to Jehovah. Finally, the closing verses invoke the covenantal language of Israel being bound to Jehovah’s law, “Fear God and keep his commandments” would remind the original readers of Deuteronomy 6:2 or 10:12, which clearly do invoke Jehovah.

[weregiraffe]

Did you know that Elohim and Yahweh originally come from different polytheistic pantheons?

[NoGravitas]

No, they were from the same pantheon. Yahweh was originally a second-tier deity in it, a son of El, and one of the tribal deities that El granted dominion over each their particular tribe. Over time, that tribe elevated Yahweh to senior deity and merged his attributes with those of El, eventually demonizing all the other gods of the pantheon.

[TonyStr]

The first three are the same, and the latter three are in no way related to the passage.

[weregiraffe]

They are all related by the fact that they are all fictional characters.