Resources for Studying Ecclesiastes

Our Monday night Bible Study group is working through the book of Ecclesiastes.  I've collected a few books that are proving to be very useful.  They are as follows:

Commentaries:

Message of Ecclesiastes (Bible Speaks Today) by Derek Kidner.

NOTE: I always benefit from Kidner's commentaries.  This is a brief and accessible commentary that is useful for the general reader as well as for pastors and teachers.

Ecclesiastes (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms) by Craig G. Bartholomew. 

NOTE: This commentary is scholarly, and extremely useful.  Bartholomew's prose is crisp and clear.  The nearly 100 page introduction is the best I've read, thus far. He surveys and critiques other commentators along the way without distracting the reader from the quest of seeking to understand the text.

Ecclesiastes (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) by Michael Eaton. 

NOTE: This little volume is packed with content.  Although it is very useful for teachers and preachers, it is a bit cumbersome for the general reader.  I've been using this commentary along with others, but we recommended those in our Bible study group to use Kidner's book. 

Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up: A Rereading of Ecclesiastes by Michael V. Fox. 

NOTE: This commentary is also scholarly, and extremely useful.  I'm using it alongside of Bartholomew, but feel that Bartholomew has extended the study in his commentary.  I would recommend this as a supplement to Bartholomew's commentary.

Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters (Preaching the Word) by Philip Graham Ryken.

NOTE: One of the other leaders in our group has been listening to some of Ryken's sermons on Ecclesiastes.  This brand new titles is an edited print version of his expositional sermons.  I do not yet own this commentary, but I received a notice from the Westminster Bookstore that it is now available and currently on sale.  Ryken's comments have proven to be very helpful.

Supplemental Studies:

The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes: An Introduction to Wisdom Literature by Derek Kidner.


Five Festal Garments: Christian Reflections on the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations (New Studies in Biblical Theology Vol 10) by Barry G. Webb. 

Audio Sermons:

A series of sermons we found most helpful are those preached by Rev. Ian Hamilton.  These can be downloaded from the Cambridge Presbyterian Church website (here).

Resources for Studying Ecclesiastes

The Quest for Meaning & The Kingdom of God

I am reading with much profit Craig Bartholomew's commentary on Ecclesiastes (BCOTWP).  The way he makes sense of Qohelet's quest for meaning in light of the NT is excellent and worth sharing here.  The book of Ecclesiastes presents a tension between Qohelet's frustration in trying to find meaning in life while at the same time affirming the value of life.  Bartholomew comments:

Thus the futility Ecclesiastes exposes is that of trying to find meaning while embracing human autonomy in a world that depends at every point on its Creator.

As the NT story unfolds, it becomes apparent that Jesus redeems us from this futility and our sinful autonomy and suppression of the truth about this world (Rom. 1:18-23).  He does this by ushering in the kingdom of God, the main theme of Jesus's teaching.... Just as hebel casts its shadow across all areas of life, so too does Christ claim all areas of life as rightly his and thus to be redeemed and brought to their fulfillment under his rule.  Christ does not just teach about the kingdom; through his incarnation he enters the very history that is subject to futility and embodies the kingdom in his acts and ultimately in his death and resurrection and ascension.  In his death he takes upon himself the full weight of the futility of separation from God and thereby opens the gate to entrance into the kingdom, in which full meaning is found in Christ. (p. 97)

The Quest for Meaning & The Kingdom of God