Investigation
Investigation in scripture is the work of seeking out — applying the heart to wisdom, testing pleasure, weighing folly, sifting many proverbs. Ecclesiastes runs the experiment most explicitly: a king with means and intellect tries to investigate everything done under the sun, and reports the results.
Setting the Heart to Search
The Preacher names his project at the start: "I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven: it is an intense travail that God has given to the sons of man to be exercised with" (Ec 1:13). The early findings are bleak — "all is vanity and a striving after wind" (Ec 1:14), and the deformities of the world resist correction: "That which is crooked can't be made straight; and that which is wanting can't be numbered" (Ec 1:15).
Self-assessment of the searcher follows. "I communed with my own heart, saying, Look, I have gotten myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem; yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge" (Ec 1:16). Even so, "I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind" (Ec 1:17). The investigation does not exempt its investigator: "For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow" (Ec 1:18).
Testing Pleasure and Work
Chapter 2 widens the experiment from intellect to experience. "I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, look, this also was vanity" (Ec 2:1). Laughter, wine, building, gardens, slaves, herds, silver, music — every available variable is tried in turn (Ec 2:2-8). "And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I did not withhold my heart from any joy" (Ec 2:10).
The verdict, after the run is complete: "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, look, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun" (Ec 2:11). The searcher returns to comparison: "And I turned myself to look at wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] man [do] who comes after the king?" (Ec 2:12).
The Conclusion of the Whole Matter
The book's epilogue describes its own method. "And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered, and sought out, [and] set in order many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, [even] words of truth" (Ec 12:9-10). The fruit of the search is sayings — goads and "nails well fastened" — given "from one shepherd" (Ec 12:11). A warning to the next investigator follows: "of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh" (Ec 12:12).
The investigation closes by stepping outside itself: "[This is] the end of the matter; all has been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is [applicable to] all man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil" (Ec 12:13-14).