On Ecclesiastes · §3 · Eustathius of Antioch

All such things end in vanity

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

Eustathius has just cited David and Stephen using 'spirit' for the soul; he now cites the Books of Kingdoms about Amnon and turns to the argument that all such human activities end in vanity.

And in the Books of Kingdoms (1-4 Kingdoms in the LXX, corresponding to 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings) it says that David did not grieve the spirit of Amnon his son (2 Kingdoms 13:21 LXX / 2 Samuel 13:21).

For all such things have one end: vanity. Nothing of it is found to remain for what comes next, because once the activity ceased, the enjoyment was erased too.

Greek

καὶ ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις· οὐκ ἐλύπησε, φησὶ, ∆αυῒδ τὸ πνεῦμα Ἀμνὼν τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. 80 Ὅτι ἓν τέλος τῶν τοιούτων πάντων ἡ ματαιότης ἐστίν· ἧς περισσεύειν εἰς τὸ ἐφεξῆς οὐχ εὑρίσκεται· παυσαμένης γὰρ τῆς ἐνεργείας, ἐξηλείφθη καὶ ἡ ἀπόλαυσις,

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

A few lines on Ecclesiastes credited to Eustathius of Antioch: here spirit means the soul, and pleasure leaves nothing behind once it has passed.

Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337) wrote this commentary on Ecclesiastes. He was bishop of Beroea and then Patriarch of Antioch, and a leading opponent of Arianism at the Council of Nicaea. The work survives only in fragments quoted by later compilers.

The fragments come from catena quotations on Ecclesiastes, where later editors collected passages from earlier commentators alongside the biblical text. Eustathius explains the biblical text's use of key terms and draws out its teaching on the transience of pleasure.

A reader will meet David, quoted from the Psalms entrusting his spirit to God, and the Lord Jesus, addressed in the words 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Eustathius interprets 'spirit' as the soul, understood as a deliberate choice of the mind, and argues that all such human activities end in vanity. Once the activity ceases, the enjoyment is erased, and nothing is stored up for the future. The Books of Kingdoms are the ancient Greek Bible's name for 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 18 (Greek)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake