12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.
15 What is wrong cannot be made right.
What is missing cannot be recovered.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.
18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.
To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.
The word wisdom first appears in verse 13 and reappears 25 additional times in the book. It should be noted that wisdom (hokma) is different from knowledge (da 'at) in verse 18. Knowledge refers to cognitive thinking: knowing something in one's head. Wisdom (hokma) is a complex word. It is a combination of knowledge and truth which is used for moral choices and social interaction. It is cognitive and affective knowledge. It is knowledge of the head and the heart.
Verse 12 is a plea that materialism and power will not provide contentment and satisfaction. He was a king and lived in Jerusalem. The wealth and power associated with this position still left him feeling empty.
Verse 13 deals with frustration. The teacher is frustrated that he isn't able to fully comprehend God (under heaven). Paul deals with partial knowledge in 1 Corinthians 13:12 - Now we see a poor reflection in a mirror...now I know in part. In frustration, the teacher writes words of despair and describes life as a tragic existence. Note similar observations from the New Testament coupled with grace: Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. -John 16:33 and And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39 The teacher has yet to experience the comic overcoming the tragic, love overcoming hate, and grace overcoming sin.
The remaining verses discuss the folly of wisdom. The teacher made a false assumption that wisdom would provide him what he desired in life. He was wrong. He uses a wonderful play on the word wind which can also be translated as Spirit of God. Chasing God is a what he was doing, but he found chasing God to be like chasing the wind.
Materialism and wisdom, the teacher says, don't lead to satisfaction and contentment in life. Both possessions and wisdom can be (and are) beneficial, but neither of them can replace a loving relationship with God. In a cruel form of irony, the loving, ongoing relationship with God is the one thing the teacher didn't have and it was the one thing he needed.
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