Poetry and Prose Trivia Quiz

Answer: Meaningless

This quote from Ecclesiastes 1:2 sets the tone for the entire book - "meaningless" (translated as "vain" or "vanity" in the KJV) is repeated throughout the text which cites numerous examples of how, often, actions and intentions do not correspond to outcome and reward.

After 1:1, which serves as a headline, the ten verses from 1:2 to 1:11 are recounted in third person before the viewpoint of the book switches to a first person narrator. In no place is Solomon referenced by name as the teacher, but the reference is unique in that there is only one "Son of David" who also was "King in Jerusalem" (1:1)

Answer: Lacking

The passage from 1:12 to 1:18 reflects on the value of wisdom itself and how it ultimately does not translate into a tangible effect. The complete quote in this question is verse 15:

"What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted."

This passage also introduces the wording "chasing after the wind" as a synonym for futility.

Answer: Toilsome

After some reflection over the futility of pleasure and a wise rule, the author next looks at physical work, with much the same result:

"So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me." (2:17)

is followed by the passage in the question (2:20) and

"What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless." (2:22-23)

Answer: Satisfied

Chapter 5 sets the tone for this passage by reflecting on the fleetingness of worldly possessions before chapter 6 then expands this to the entire span of a mortal life and how it is erased by death and, following it, the oblivion of being forgotten.

"A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he." (6:3)

The quote in the question is chapter 6, verse 7.

Answer: Righteous

Chapter 7 reflects on the value of good versus evil and the lack of a just reward for either in this life. This is most prominent in verse 15:

"In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness."

The author then recommends to not go to extremes in either good or evil before making the statement in this question (7:20), which, in full, reads:

"Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one who does what is right and never sins."

Answer: Profound

A continuation of the previous passage, 7:24 returns from reflecting on morality to knowledge and wisdom in general. In 7:25, Solomon remarks

"So I turned my mind to understand,
to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness
and the madness of folly."

but his search does not yield answers:

"This only have I found:
God created mankind upright,
but they have gone in search of many schemes.
Who is like the wise?
Who knows the explanation of things?" (7:29 - 8:1)

Answer: Wicked

The surprising full text of 8:10 is

"Then too, I saw the wicked buried - those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless."

and the text does not explain why the wicked would be characterized as those who visit the holy place. One possible explanation is that visiting and worshiping should, in this case, be seen as a reward, not as a virtuous act, in line with 8:14:

"There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless."

Answer: Dead

Chapter 9 summarizes the previous observations in the fatalistic view that death is simply the end and that there is nothing to come after it, but the passage I quoted as a whole is actually more positive than the previous tone:

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." (9:10)

However, this brighter moment is rather brief because the very next verse reads:

"I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all." (9:11)

Answer: Rich

The full meaning of 10:20 (the passage quoted in this question) could be summarized with the common wisdom of "Do not gossip for it will backfire on you":

"Do not revile the king even in your thoughts,
or curse the rich in your bedroom,
because a bird in the sky may carry your words,
and a bird on the wing may report what you say."

Answer: Hidden

One might wonder why a gloomy and fatalistic reflection of life with very little mention of God wound up in the Bible and indeed, the book's inclusion was very much disputed among early Christians (but less so among the Jews who revere all writings of Solomon), however after eleven chapters of mostly dark thoughts, the final chapter turns back towards the Creator in a positive way:

"Remember him - before the silver cord is severed,
and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
and the wheel broken at the well,
and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it." (12:6-7)

but not without a last repetition of "Everything is meaningless" in 12:8.

In the end, however, the conclusion and moral is:

"Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil." (12:13-14)