[1][2] The book contains philosophical speeches by a character called Qoheleth ("the Teacher"; 'one who speaks before an assembly') composed probably between the 5th and 2nd centuries BC.
[3] Peshitta, Targum, and Talmud, as well as most Jewish and Christian readership, attribute the authorship of the book to King Solomon.
[4] This chapter contains the title of the book, the exposition of some fundamental observations and the problem of life, especially the failure of wisdom.
[6][a] Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4QQohb (4Q110; 30 BC – 30 AD; extant verses 8–15).
[25] Biblical commentator Stuart Weeks reads these verses with chapter 2 as a single "fictional memoir" recounting the preacher's "quest for understanding".
[3] The King James Version of this verse reads "I gave my heart ...",[30] words "expressive of the spirit of an earnest seeker, [and] eminently characteristic of this book".