Editing Ecclesiastes (section)

===Title, date and author===
[[File:087.King Solomon in Old Age.jpg|alt="King Solomon in Old Age" by Gustave Doré|thumb|''[[Solomon|King Solomon]] in Old Age'' by [[Gustave Doré]] (1866), a depiction of the purported author of Ecclesiastes, according to rabbinic tradition]]

The book takes its name from the Greek {{transliteration|grc|ekklēsiastēs}}, a translation of the title by which the central figure refers to himself: "Kohelet", meaning something like "one who convenes or addresses an assembly".{{sfn|Gilbert|2009|pp=124–25}} According to rabbinic tradition, Ecclesiastes was written by [[Solomon|King Solomon]] in his old age{{sfn|Brown|2011|p=11}} (an alternative tradition that "[[Hezekiah]] and his colleagues wrote [[Isaiah]], [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], the [[Song of Songs]] and Ecclesiastes" probably means simply that the book was edited under Hezekiah),{{sfn|Smith|2007|p=692}} but critical scholars have long rejected the idea of a [[pre-exilic]] origin.{{sfn|Fox|2004|p=x}}{{sfn|Bartholomew|2009|pp=50–52}} According to Christian tradition, the book was probably written by another Solomon ([[Gregory of Nyssa]] wrote that it was written by another Solomon;{{sfn|Wright|2014|p=287}} [[Didymus the Blind]] wrote that it was probably written by several authors{{sfn|Wright|2014|p=192}}). The presence of [[Old Persian|Persian]] loanwords and numerous [[Imperial Aramaic|Aramaisms]] points to a date no earlier than about 450 BCE,{{sfn|Seow|2007|p=944}} while the latest possible date for its composition is 180 BCE, when the Jewish writer [[Ben Sira]] quotes from it.{{sfn|Fox|2004|p=xiv}} The dispute as to whether Ecclesiastes belongs to the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] or the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] periods (i.e., the earlier or later part of this period) revolves around the degree of [[Hellenization]] (influence of Greek culture and thought) present in the book. Scholars arguing for a Persian date ({{circa|450–330 BCE}}) hold that there is a complete lack of Greek influence;{{sfn|Seow|2007|p=944}} those who argue for a Hellenistic date ({{circa|330–180 BCE}}) argue that it shows internal evidence of Greek thought and social setting.{{sfn|Bartholomew|2009|pp=54–55}}

Also unresolved is whether the author and narrator of Kohelet are identical. Ecclesiastes regularly switches between third-person quotations of Kohelet and first-person reflections on Kohelet's words, which would indicate the book was written as a commentary on Kohelet's parables rather than a personally-authored repository of his sayings. Some scholars have argued that the third-person narrative structure is an artificial literary device along the lines of [[Uncle Remus]], although the description of the Kohelet in 12:8–14 seems to favour a historical person whose thoughts are presented by the narrator.{{sfn|Bartholomew|2009|p=48}} It has been argued, however, that the question has no theological importance;{{Sfn|Bartholomew|2009|p=48}} one scholar (Roland Murphy) has commented that Kohelet himself would have regarded the time and ingenuity put into interpreting his book as "one more example of the [[fatalism|futility of human effort]]".{{sfn|Ingram|2006|p=45}}