Gain versus Gift: The Slavery of Death in Ecclesiastes

One of the arguments I make in The Slavery of Death is that we become enslaved to the fear of death because we form out identities through the act of possessing. Arthur McGill calls this an "identity of possession."

As should be obvious, an identity based upon possession is vulnerable to anxiety, worry and fear as the possibility and threat of dispossession is ever-present. The potential for loss infuses the psyche. We become enslaved by this fear of loss, slaves to the fear of death.

These fears become particularly acute when we live in what Brene Brown has called a "culture of scarcity" where everyone is "hyperaware of lack," worried about not having or being "enough."

As I argue it in the book, the path toward an emancipation from our slavery to the fear of death is to reconfigure our identities, to "die" to an identity built around possession so that a new identity might be "resurrected" to take its place.

If so, what sort of identity? The answer I give is an identity based not upon possession but upon the experience of gift.

Interestingly, though I didn't include this in The Slavery of Death, I think this analysis is supported by a reading of the book of Ecclesiastes.

A central question in the book of Ecclesiastes is this: What gain is there in life?

The question comes right at the start of the book, in 1.3:
What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
The word translated as "gain" here is yithron. Yithron only occurs ten times in the OT, all of those occurrences in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Yithron is variously translated as gain, profit or advantage. The basic idea is that of accumulation, excess, and remainder--what is "left over."

According to Ecclesiastes because life is hebel--mist, vapor--efforts to "gain" are futile and vain. This is why most translations translate hebel as "vanity" or "meaninglessness."

In Ecclesiastes we walk through a couple examples of this pursuit of "gain" in Chapter 2, where the Teacher variously chased after "gain" via riches, pleasure, wisdom and work. But in every instance death washes the "gain" away. Riches, pleasure, wisdom and work are all hebel--fleeting as the mist and vapor. The pursuit of "gain" is revealed to be like "chasing after the wind."

But here's the really weird part. In other locations in Ecclesiastes pleasure, riches, wisdom and work are all praised and commended.

So what's the deal with this switcharoo? Are these things good or bad?

To be sure, there are no easy or consistent answers for the complex testimony found Ecclesiastes, but I think one way to make sense of the paradox observed here is rooted in the argument I make in The Slavery of Death.

Specifically, when we pursue things with an eye on possessing them, when our strivings are motivated by yithron, the prospect of death dominates our lives. Anything we think we've "gained" will be washed away. As noted above, an identity of possession is vulnerable to the prospect and inevitability of loss. Thus the angst we see--symptomatic of a slavery to the fear of death--expressed by the Teacher in Ecclesiastes: "All is vanity."

But the problem isn't with riches, pleasure, wisdom or work per se. The problem comes only when we pursue and hold onto these things as possessions, as "gain." Because "gain" is ever-vulnerable to loss.

But if these same things are received as gifts then what was previously found to be "vanity" is now experienced as a "blessing."
Ecclesiastes 5:19
Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil--this is a gift of God.
Pursued as gain life is vanity. But received as gift life is transformed into blessing.

In short, I think a key insight to how the Teacher in Ecclesiastes variously condemns and praises aspects of life--money, pleasure, wisdom, work--hinges upon the contrast between "gain" and "gift" in the face of death.

And this is the same contrast that sits at the heart of my analysis of identity in The Slavery of Death.

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7 thoughts on “Gain versus Gift: The Slavery of Death in Ecclesiastes”

  1. My fear of death has evolved over the years. As a teen and 20-something I didn't think about my own death very much but I lost a sister so I began to fear the loss of others. When I had children it almost became crippling to think that I could lose one of them. As they grew and I grew older I began to fear my own death, not so much because I would be dying but I would leave them without a father. I'm in my fifties and have a 12 year old son. It scares the hell out of me that I could leave him without a father. I now also have grandchildren, one of each gender. I would love to be here when they are grown. I know that having them is a gift and one that I am grateful for but I also know that gifts can be taken away.

  2. One of the finest treatments on the contrasts in the book ofEcclesiastes that I have read in a long time. Thank you for stepping away from the traditional views of the book. Very refreshing. I will need to read your book and see how you develop those themes. The “gift” vs. “gain” fits Kohelet well for he is definitely looking to see what lasting benefit we can derive from all our labor under the sun.

    I recently completed a five year project on a new translation of Ecclesiastes which I have now memorized and perform as a theatre piece. I emphasize the same type of contrast and it is interesting to see the response. This last week an 80 year old man stood up during the Q and A after the performance and told me that he has been reading Ecclesiastes all his life but this was the first time he understood what it was saying. Hope you are finding the same type of encouragement with your work on the book.

    Thanks again,

    Vance Neudorf
    www.artofwork.ca

  3. Your earlier post on 'hebel' is one of my favorites, and one that I return to time and again for further inspiration. This is a great follow up. This fear of dispossession I find of particular interest as I see it acutely at work in the heaven/hell debate. The traditions that have the greatest fear of dispossession also seem to be some of the most prone to violence. This can't be a coincidence.

  4. Matt Redman's song captures this "gift" idea perfectly to me. And when all is "gift" and you understand God is the giver, your left only with the refrain, Blessed Be Your Name.

    Blessed Be Your Name
    In the land that is plentiful
    Where Your streams of abundance flow
    Blessed be Your name

    Blessed Be Your name
    When I'm found in the desert place
    Though I walk through the wilderness
    Blessed Be Your name

    Every blessing You pour out
    I'll turn back to praise
    When the darkness closes in, Lord
    Still I will say

    Blessed be the name of the Lord
    Blessed be Your name
    Blessed be the name of the Lord
    Blessed be Your glorious name

    Blessed be Your name
    When the sun's shining down on me
    When the world's 'all as it should be'
    Blessed be Your name

    Blessed be Your name
    On the road marked with suffering
    Though there's pain in the offering
    Blessed be Your name

    Every blessing You pour out
    I'll turn back to praise
    When the darkness closes in, Lord
    Still I will say

    Blessed be the name of the Lord
    Blessed be Your name
    Blessed be the name of the Lord
    Blessed be Your glorious name

    Blessed be the name of the Lord
    Blessed be Your name
    Blessed be the name of the Lord
    Blessed be Your glorious name

    You give and take away
    You give and take away
    My heart will choose to say
    Lord, blessed be Your name

  5. For Catholics, the slavery of death means that man is afraid of dying so he will do anything even commit sin just to avoid suffering and death.


    But if man truly believes that God rewards the good and that there is eternal life after mortal death, then he no longer fears death or pain but even welcomes it as in the case of the martyrs. He is no longer "enslaved" by the fear of death. He becomes truly free to do what he believes will truly be best for him, ie, attain eternal life by following God's laws even if he has to suffer and even die.


    Life, if its sole purpose is to pursue material goods and earthly joy, is vanity because at death one cannot bring those things that he enjoyed while he lived nor will memories of past joys console him. Life is only meaningful if there is hope of eternal joy and life after death. Life is meaningful only if the goal is to attain such eternal life and joy, not temporal joy on earth.


    Man was made by God to be immortal (infinite life) so he cannot be satisfied by finite things or temporal joy. Man can only be satisfied by infinite joy that only God can give.

  6. Richard: just came across a quote from Gregory of Nyssa that reminded me of your writing in this chapter...

    "All the preoccupation of men with the things of this life is but the game of children on the sands. For children take delight in the activity of their play and as soon as they have finished building what they build, their pleasure ends. For as soon as their labor is completed, the sand falls down and nothing is left of their buildings.
"
    - On Eclessiastes, Sermon 1"

  7. Wow! I think this is the first time I've understood Ecclesiastes. Beautiful. I'll have to go back and re-read it with this in mind. Thank you!

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