The Hebrew Bible

This ostensible divergence from the overall pattern gives some credence to the proposal by Gordis that the flinging and gathering of stones are a metaphor for ejaculation and refraining from ejaculation. Gordis cites the Midrash Qohelet Rabba on this verse, which reads it in this sexual sense.

10And so have I seen the wicked brought to the grave, and from a holy place they went forth, while those who did right were forgotten in the town. This, too, is mere breath.

9Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart be merry in the days of your prime, and go about in the ways of your heart and what your eyes see. But know that for all these God will bring you to judgment. 10And remove worry from your heart, and take evil away from your flesh, for youth and the time of vigor are mere breath.

Human nature begins with the potential for honesty (“upright” is literally “straight”), but people pervert this potential by devising devious calculations, like wily accountants juggling figures in their books.

The wicked are given a proper burial while the righteous are forgotten—nothing stands to reason in this world.

Qohelet is a Wisdom writer who constantly questions the value of wisdom.

12For in wisdom’s shade is money’s shade, and the gain of wisdom’s knowledge keeps its possessors alive.

And I saw that wisdom surpasses folly as light surpasses darkness.

This moment is evanescent, mere breath, for the gray hair and its attendant infirmities will soon come.