It is a bit frustrating reading through Ecclesiastes

[GrandizerII]

Sorry for the clickbait title, couldn't help.

You guys all know about Ecclesiastes, how it is considered a favorite among atheists because it sort of reads like a work from an ancient Israelite Nietzsche. And actually, I would consider the Teacher (the author of the core message in Ecclesiastes) to be like a proto-Nietzsche. The guy is cynical as fuck and loves pointing out how everything is meaningless. And the philosophy itself is interesting and engaging.

But what is annoying is seeing what appear to be injections by later scribes who may have found the message valuable enough to include in the canon (as it speaks to the suffering of the Jews and such) but nevertheless too "unorthodox" to leave untouched. So they basically had to insert their commentaries into the text and fuck with its intended core message: that everything is meaningless and you should just enjoy your life.

Thus, you get stuff like this:

Ecclesiastes 4:

The Teacher:
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
The naughty scribes:
Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves.

The Teacher:
Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil,yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless—a miserable business!
The naughty scribes:
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Notice how they fuck up the original points.

The Teacher is deriding hard work and accomplishments, pointing out how it's all meaningless. The editors then had to add that laziness is not good either; better to be neither lazy nor a workaholic.

While the Teacher points out how futile it is to have all the wealth a man can have, the later scribes changed this point and made it about how important it is to have friends/companions.

Another example in Chapter 3:

And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”