The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
The Preacher - and Convener of assemblies for the purpose. See my Preface. Qohelet (H6953) in Hebrew. It is the standing form for calling or gatherings together the people of God (Deuteronomy 4:10; Exodus 35:1; Leviticus 8:3): a symbolical name for Solomon, and of Heavenly Wisdom speaking through and identified with him. Compare 1 Kings 8:1, "Solomon assembled the elders of Israel." Wisdom in the Church, unlike the wisdom of worldly philosophy, addressed itself not merely to the privileged few, but to the whole assembly. It pities and seeks the good of all, instead of the glorification of self. There is thus. a coincidence with Solomon's words, Proverbs 1:20-21; Proverbs 8:3, "Wisdom crieth without" - "She crieth at the gates;" i:e., the place of public concourse. Wisdom is embodied in Christ, of whom Solomon was the type, and who would have gathered together the children of Jerusalem, as the true Koheleth, if they had been willing to permit Him (Luke 11:49-50; Luke 13:34; Matthew 23:34; Matthew 23:37). The feminine form of Koheleth, and the feminine verb, in Ecclesiastes 7:27, shows that Solomon is but the representative of Heavenly Wisdom. Ecclesiastes 1:12 shows that "king of Jerusalem" is in apposition, not with "David," but "Preacher."
Of Jerusalem - rather in [bª-] Jerusalem, because it was merely his metropolis, not his whole kingdom.