Eclesiastes is one of the best pieces of writing of all time.
It's content seems a bit out of place with some of the other stuff.
Only with how religious institutions interpret the Scriptures, to conform to their pre-conceived ideas.....Makes it a jumbled mess. But remove all these ideas from your mind when you read it....like with a clean slate....and it'll surprise you. It did, to me.
Example: I'd always been told that all humans *have* a soul that's immortal. But the Bible doesn't say that!
From BibleHub:
King James Bible
And the LORD God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man *
became* a living soul.
New Heart English Bible
The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul.
...and on and on, etc. .....
JPS Tanakh 1917
Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Jubilee Bible 2000
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
King James 2000 Bible
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
American King James Version
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
American Standard Version
And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Darby Bible Translation
And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul.
English Revised Version
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
World English Bible
Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
****So the
Bible teaches, not that we *
have* souls, but that we *
ARE* souls!****
Totally different than what most churches teach.
And what
is a soul?
Well, the following versions word Genesis 2:7 a little differently; they read:
New Living Translation
Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man
became a living person.
Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah God formeth the man -- dust from the ground, and breatheth into his nostrils breath of life, and the man becometh a
living creature.
So the soul is the person himself, the creature.
And something else not taught in **mainstream** Christendom:
The soul
dies!
-- Ezekiel 18:4
....because we as persons die. Simple enough. What is true, as opposed to what is false, is almost always simpler to grasp and explain.
Occam's Razor, eh?