The Book of Ecclesiastes is unique in many respects. One wonders how it happened that a book so skeptical in tone and so unorthodox in its contents would ever have been placed in the canon of sacred writings. Presumably, several factors secured its inclusion among the books of the Old Testament. Ecclesiastes strongly appeals to many individuals because of the honesty with which the author expresses his own convictions. He knows that what he says is not in accord with generally accepted ideas, but he has the courage to say what he believes to be true. Because the name of King Solomon had long been associated with the work of the sages, it became attached to this particular piece of writing and gave an added prestige to it. But even with these two factors in support of the book's inclusion in the Old Testament, Ecclesiastes probably would have been excluded from the canon of Scriptures had it not been for an addition that appears to have been made to the last chapter. Here, we find the words "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."
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