SUMMARY
Qoheleth, “the Teacher” who is the speaker of Ecclesiastes (see 1:12), records his observations about how the human experience of life on earth remains the same, even as generations of people live and die, come and go.
ANALYSIS
In addition to the theme of “vanity,” this section lays out the Teacher’s understanding that the natural world continues in cyclical patterns, even as humans come and go upon it generation after generation. The philosophical question at the heart of this passage and much of what follows is a question at the heart of human existence: What are we here on this earth for, if everything we do and are will one day pass away?
