The Hodder Bible Commentary
Eric Ortlund
Hodder & Stoughton, 2024
Many Christians are wary of the Bible book of Ecclesiastes, because it contains verses that seem to say that life has no purpose and everything we do is useless. This jars against our Chrisitan understanding. Eric Ortlund helps to explain, without explaining away, the difficult passages.
Ecclesiastes helps us face the reality of life, that being a Christian isn’t all sweetness, light and wonderful achievements:
“On the one hand we can work ourselves to exhaustion trying to secure for ourselves some permanent achievement through our own efforts (2:4-9) […] If we take this route, we will come to hate life when it refuses to obey us (Ecclesiastes 2:17-18). On the other hand, we can deeply accept that, within the limitations of our earthly lives, we gain nothing permanent, we do not really change the world and everything slips away in the end – but God has given us today to enjoy, and each thing in it. We can accept that the only value our lives and labours have is in their status as a gift from God himself.” (Page 65).
Life is a mixture of things that are within our control, and things that are not – ‘stuff happens’. In Ecclesiastes 11:3, when a tree falls, “in the place where it falls, there it will lie”, Ortland comments:
“The world is not random chaos, but not everything happens because of us or for us. Wisdom accepts these limitations.” Page 167.
This is an excellent commentary, tackling the realities of life, and gives us a sense of perspective.
April 2025
Adrian Vincent