Vs 01: "The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem." Verse 01 tells us the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes, "The Preacher" or "Qoheleth" in Hebrew means "One who assembles", The writer is Solomon, we know this for in chpt 12:9-10 we learn that the Preacher "was wise and taught the people, he studied, sought out and wrote many proverbs" these words have been gathered together and form the what is known as "the wisdom books of the Bible" Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & The Song of Solomon.
             Solomon also mentions that he is in fact a King, showing us that he has all the qualifications necessary to analyse the lives of men, for he had power, authority & more wisdom than any other man, vs16 reads "I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all them that have come before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom & knowledge."
             Vs 02: "Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." This verse sets the theme, all is vanity. All mans wisdom, pleasure, hopes, aspirations, pride and achievements, the whole of mans existence is nothing more than vanity.
             Vs 03: "What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" Solomon here asks what has man got if he spends his whole life thinking about himself, gaining material possessions and getting as much pleasure out of his life as possible, once his life is over? Jesus talks of this very point in the parable of the materialistic man in Luke 12vs15-21"And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, what shall I do, because I have ...