Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes
Metaphrasis in Ecclesiasten
Gregory Thaumaturgus ("the Wonderworker," c. 213–c. 270), Origen's pupil and bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus, carried his teacher's learning into a lifetime of pastoral work on the Black Sea coast.
His Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes retells Solomon's book as a single flowing meditation: human affairs are empty, nothing is new under the sun, and wisdom lies in fearing God.
This volume holds the opening of Chapter I: Solomon's address to the church on the vanity of earthly things.
© 2026 SaneApps. This translation is free to share and adapt, even commercially, as long as you credit SaneApps. Draft translation, prepared with AI assistance and not yet independently reviewed. Verify against the original before citing. Translated from MGR Greek (TLG 2063.006 / Documenta Catholica Omnia); Cap. A opening; PG 10.987-989.
Cap. I opening: Solomon to the Church — human affairs empty; nothing new under the sun§1
1These are the words of Solomon, son of David the king and prophet, spoken to the whole Church of God — a king most honored among all people, and a prophet most wise.
How empty and unprofitable are the affairs of human beings, and all the eager pursuits that are merely human! For no one can name any lasting benefit attached to the things people crawl after on the earth, straining with body and soul to finish them — overcome by what is temporary, and unwilling to look up, even a little, above the stars with the noble eye of the soul.
And the life of human beings is worn away day by day, through the circuits of hours and years and the bounded courses of the sun: some arriving, others departing. The matter is like the passage of winter torrents falling into the measureless deep of the sea with much turmoil.
But the things God has made for the sake of human beings remain the same — for example, being born from the earth and departing into the earth; the earth itself standing firm; the sun going all around it and running back to the same bound; and likewise the winds, and the rivers that pour so great a volume into the sea, and the winds that beat upon it, without forcing the sea beyond its measures, and without themselves breaking their appointed order.
And so those things that contribute to this life of ours have been fixed. But the words and deeds that humans devise have no measure. There is a great throng of words, yet no benefit from that wandering babble. The human tribe is insatiable both for speaking and for hearing another speak — and still longs to look with idle eyes at each thing that happens to fall before it.
What could come later that has not already been finished, or that humans might still do? What is new that has not yet come into experience, and that is even worth remembering? For my part I think there is nothing; whatever someone may call recent or new, on reflection he will find it was not unknown to those of old. Just as former things have been hidden by forgetfulness, so also the present will be dimmed for those who come after, by time.
And I am not improvising these things now as I assemble the Church; rather, having been entrusted with the kingdom of the Hebrews in Jerusalem, I have considered all things carefully enough. (cf. Ecclesiastes 1:1-11)
Greek · §1
Τάδε λέγει Σαλομὼν, ὁ τοῦ Δαβὶδ βασιλέως καὶ προφήτου παῖς ἁπάσῃ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίᾳ, παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους βασιλεὺς ἐντιμότατος, καὶ προφήτης σοφώτατος. Ὡς κενὰ καὶ ἀνόνητα τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πράγματά τε καὶ σπουδάσματα, ὅσα ἀνθρώπινα. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχει τις εἰπεῖν ὄφελός τι τούτοις προσηρτημένον, ἅπερ ἄνθρωποι περὶ γῆν ἕρποντες, καὶ σώμασι καὶ ψυχαῖς ἐκτελέσαι σπεύδουσι, τῶν μὲν προσκαίρων ἡττημένοι, ἀνωτέρω δὲ τῶν ἄστρων τῷ γενναίῳ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμματι, οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν κατιδεῖν βουλόμενοι. Καὶ κατατρίβεται ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίος ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας, καὶ ὡρῶν καὶ ἐνιαυτῶν περιόδους, ἡλίου τε δρόμους περιωρισμένους, τῶν μὲν παραγινομένων, τῶν δὲ ὑπαπαιρόντων. Ἔοικε δὲ τὸ πρᾶγμα, χειμάρρων παρόδῳ, ἀμετρήτῳ θαλάσσης ἐμπιπτόντων βυθῷ σὺν ταράχῳ πολλῷ. Καὶ τὰ μὲν δι᾽ ἀνθρώπους ὑπὸ Θεοῦ γεγονότα, μένει τὰ αὐτά, οἷον· τὸ ἀπὸ γῆς γεννᾶσθαι, τὸ εἰς γῆν ἀπιέναι, τὸ αὐτὴν ἑστάναι τὴν γῆν, τὸ τὸν ἥλιον ἅπασαν αὐτὴν ἐκπεριϊόντα, πάλιν εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν περιτρέχειν ὅρον, καὶ τὰ πνεύματα ὡσαύτως, τούς τε ποταμοὺς τοσούτους εἰς θάλασσαν ἐκδιδόντας, καὶ τοὺς ἀνέμους ἐμπίπτοντας, μὴ ἀναγκάζειν αὐτὴν ὑπερβαίνειν τὰ αὐτῆς μέτρα, μηδὲ αὐτοὺς παρανομεῖν. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ὡς εἰς τουτονὶ συντελοῦντα ἡμῖν τὸν βίον, οὕτως ἄραρε. Τὰ δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἐπιτεχνώμενα ῥήματά τε καὶ πράγματα, μέτρον οὐκ ἔχει. Καὶ λόγων πολὺς μὲν ὅμιλος, ὄνησις δὲ οὐδεμία ἀπὸ τῆς πεπλανημένης φλυαρίας· ἀλλ᾽ ἄπληστόν ἐστι τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φῦλον, πρός τε τὸ λέγειν, πρός τε τὸ ἑτέρου λέγοντος ἀκούειν· ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ ὄμμασιν εἰκαίοις ἕκαστα τῶν παραπιπτόντων ὁρᾶν γλίχεσθαι. Τί ἂν γένοιτο ὕστερον, ὅπερ οὐκ ἤδη τετέλεσται, ἢ πραχθείη πρὸς ἀνθρώπων; Τί καινὸν τὸ μηδέπω εἰς πεῖραν ἐλθόν, ὅτου καὶ μνησθῆναι ἄξιον; Ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οἶμαι οὐδέν, ὅ τι δ᾽ ἂν εἴπῃ πρόσφατον, ἢ καινὸν ἀναλογιζόμενος εὑρήσει, μηδὲ τοῖς πάλαι ἄγνωστον. Ὥσπερ δὲ τὰ πρότερα λήθῃ κέκρυπται, οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἐνεστῶτα, εἰς τοὺς μετέπειτα χρόνῳ ἀμαυρωθήσεται. Καὶ οὐκ αὐτοσχεδιάζω ταῦτα νῦν ἐκκλησιάζων· ἀλλά μοι βασιλείαν Ἑβραίων ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις πεπιστευμένῳ, ἱκανῶς ἅπαντα πεφρόντισται.