Aristotle, Plato, and Ecclesiastes

I found Ecclesiastes 1:13 very intriguing because of the information about classical scholars - namely Plato and Aristotle - I learned about in other classes. Qoheleth discusses his experience with reason, "With the help of wisdom I have been at pains to study all that is done under heaven; oh, what a weary task God has given mankind to labour at!" (Ecc 1:13) In more simple terms, the verse is stating that it has been Qoheleth's duty to study everything because God has commanded humans to do so.

This verse, and the passage surrounding it, reminded me very much of Aristotelian thought. Aristotle claims that the purpose of mankind is to discover the entelechy of things in the world based on empirical study and reason. Although not a religious man, Aristotle would agree with Qoheleth's work.

However, Qoheleth goes on to state that, "I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and what vanity it all is, what chasing of the wind!" (Ecc 1:14) Here, Qoheleth is saying that his research is done in vain because the things of this world are meaningless without God's wisdom and truth. Like Aristotle, Plato believes that humans are made to reason. But, Plato would agree with Qoheleth more than Aristotle because of their mutual belief that the physical world should not matter. Plato believes that the world of Forms matters more than the physical world and Qoheleth believes that God matters more than the physical world.