Ecclesiastes Chapter Six, Naming

Ecclesiastes 6:10 Whatever one is, he has been named already, for it is known that he is man; and he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he. [11] Since there are many things that increase vanity, how is man the better?

The preacher begins this portion of his letter with a recrimination. No matter what else we are called in life: husband, father, wife, mother, manager, owner, athlete, et al, one label binds the totality of the race and summarizes us neatly: human.

Naming in Scripture tends to characterize the individual. For instance, Phinehas’ wife, when she learned that Israel was defeated and her husband slain, named her newborn son Ichobod, meaning “inglorious”, because her son was representative of what awaited him and Israel in the future, according to the moment, 1 Samuel 4:19-22. Moses was named because he was snatched from the Nile River, his name meaning “drawn out.” This would aptly describe his life hereafter, being drawn out by God to lead His people to Canaan, Exodus 2:10. Cain’s name meant “acquire.” Abel’s name meant “breath,” or “nothing.” Eve clearly believed Cain was the man God spoke of in the garden, so when Abel arrived as well, his presence (as far as Scriptural prophecy was concerned at least) meant nothing. Adam named his wife, taken from his side, Eve, which meant “living.” Why? Because Eve was quite literally humanity’s mother; that was her legacy, just as Adam (which meant man or ground) was the father of all living. 

In fact, Adam is a good subject to study here. He is, after all, the first human. His name represented two things. First, man. He was the pinnacle and beginning of humanity, and in him all of humanity was represented in embryo. Paul had this same notion when he wrote, “As in Adam all die,” 1 Corinthians 15:22. Adam encapsulates the human experience. Moreover, his name “Adamah” (Hebrew for ground) depicts the earth he was taken from, is cursed to return upon death, and what becomes of his successors. Like Adam, we too must endure the life-ending curse of death for sin’s sake and return to the dust from whence we came.

The preacher is getting to the back of the names man foists upon himself, cutting to the heart of the matter and of human experience. Mankind has been named already. Just as Moses was named, Noah was named, or Ichobod was named, mankind was named by his Creator. For some of these people their names did not necessarily reflect what they became, as in Abel’s case. Others lived up to their namesake. What of man, collectively named by God? The preacher states that above all else it is already known that he is man, and that mankind cannot contend with or dispute this reality with the One that is mightier than he. God is mightier than mankind in every qualitative or quantitative metric one may apply. God is omniscient; man’s knowledge is sorely limited. God is omnipresent, man is trapped in his small place in the world. God is omnipotent; He spoke the universe into being. Man is fragile, easily turned from his course and just as easily dying from the rigors of the world. God is infinite, while man is painfully finite.

Our label, as it were, is not open for debate. Man is a sinful creature, proud in his defiance of God’s person and purpose. We are hateful of Him and one another. In a day and age when people in western culture believe that simply “identifying” as something else makes them so, fostering childish and dangerous delusion, the preacher wants to remind humanity that first and foremost we are identified as human with his frailty and failings, and our behavior sounds this out nicely. God doesn’t even need to contend or dispute with us; we do an elegant enough job demonstrating our nature for the world and angelic powers to see every day of our lives.

The preacher points out that many things increase vanity. Indeed, he has already asserted that all is vanity, including, perhaps, his own bitter letter warning people away from its pursuit. Then he wonders how man is better. What advantage does mankind have? We are reminded by what we are named by our nature. Perhaps the preacher alludes that even many of the titles we bestow ourselves with simply begets vanity. We use titles as a shield to hide what we really are, and refuse to come to terms with what we have been named by Someone greater than ourselves, and come to terms with it. Rather, instead of seeking salvation from the implication our nature suggests, we dispute with the God who gave it as though He were a peer that we have an equal say with.