The narrator of the Book of Ecclesiastes had very little knowledge of many things that Jesus and his apostles later preached. The author does not make statements, but only wonders (thinks, observes, often raises questions, and leaves them open). He looked at the world based on the Law of Moses and found nothing but vanity, as the earthly reward promised in the law did not always accompany good deeds and earthly punishment for evil deeds. However, Jesus and the apostles offered a greater perspective, including the promise of heavenly reward after death. The author of Ecclesiastes did not possess the full revelation that the evangelists had. Or do you also claim along with him that there is no better thing for a man under heaven than to eat, drink, and be merry, etc.?
Revelation happened progressively on many subjects: for example, Abraham or Solomon could have known almost nothing about the soul and its fate, Jesus spoke a lot about it, and even more was given to the apostles. Therefore, in this question, one cannot refer to Old Testament texts without taking into account the later, New Testament revelations.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 does not teach unconscious existence after death, but only that the dead have no share in anything that happens under the sun. They also quote this in their continuation, and I have never claimed that the dead know what is happening on earth. But perhaps they are willing to accept literally (also for themselves) that the dead have no more rewards?
Because maybe they also agree that, in the final analysis, not everything is in vain, and that there are better things for a man to do than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. If they accept this, don't hey feel that they are contradicting Ecclesiastes?
First, the verse itself only says that the living about the future know only that they must die; however, this depressing awareness is more valuable than the underworld state, which completely lacks knowledge. The Old Testament sage does not yet know about the reward after death; the earthly reward after death would be immortal fame, but this is also vanity, as people quickly forget. Therefore, the living are in full use of their senses and can still enjoy life; but the deceased, even the souls of the righteous, are in a state of numbness and sad silence together. Ecclesiastes here speaks of the deceased of the Old Testament, pre-Christian times. Before Christ accomplished his work of redemption, heaven was closed; and during this time, the deceased were all together in the underworld in a joyless, sad existence, although they were chosen for eternal salvation. In this respect, their life was sadder than that which people live in this world. Hell, the underworld (Genesis 4:16, 30, 33), where all the dead gathered (Job 30:23) before Christ had accomplished his great work, was, in the case of the wicked, a place of real hell, indeed a place of supplication (Job 26:5); but also for the righteous, as a porch of hell, it was not a place of joy, but of silent sadness (Psalm 29:10, 87:13, Isaiah 38:18, Ecclesiastes 9:10), and in this respect, it was not that place where God is exalted and praised, as it is on earth. Only through Christ did death cease to be sad, because he opened heaven, that place where God is exalted and praised. The praying Christian should remember the death of sin and eternal death in hell, the place of punishment for the damned, where God is not blessed and exalted.
The whole message of the book is that if we view life without God, everything seems futile. The beginning of Chapter 9 also argues this point: anything can happen to anyone, whether they are good and religious or bad and irreligious, the same can happen to everyone (verses 1-2). But it's not enough for life to be unjust; humans, with their own wickedness, exacerbate the problems, and in the end, everyone dies (verse 3). This seems quite hopeless, but as long as a person is alive, there is reason for hope (verse 4). At least the living know what will happen to them: they will definitely die one day (and stand before God), but until then, they have the opportunity to change their fate (which can give hope). The dead, however, know nothing, they have no benefit from anything, and eventually, others forget them (verse 5). The earthly things they fought for vanish, and although they once loved or hated, it no longer matters: they can no longer participate in earthly matters (verse 6). It is not that they are unconscious or that they do not exist, but rather that they have fallen out of this world. Therefore, the lesson, indeed, God's will, is that one should enjoy the transient life – with work, honor, love, and joy – as long as possible (verses 7-9). Not because there is "nothing" after death, but because acting, thinking, and acquiring knowledge and wisdom must and can be done here in earthly life (verse 10). What matters beyond is what happened on earth.
The Watchtower Society teaches, based on this biblical verse, that when a person dies, they cease to exist. The dead do not see, do not hear, do not think. Humans do not have an immortal soul that would continue to live after death. This is the so-called annihilation, which is completely contrary to Christian teaching.
One of the basics of biblical interpretation is that you cannot cut a few lines or words out of the whole text and then extract something from it. The Bible should not be viewed in terms of individual sentences, but rather the teachings of individual sections or books. For example, one could refer to the words of Satan or the words of evil or foolish people in the Bible (e.g., "There is no God" Psalm 14:1). The same happens in this case. The Jehovah's Witnesses, in order to support one of their teachings - which almost their entire substantive teaching is based on - turn to the Book of Ecclesiastes, where a skeptical, hopeless, and disillusioned person pours out their heart, arguing with themselves. The entire Book of Ecclesiastes is a series of points and counterpoints. First, hopelessness and despair are expressed, followed by the positive response of faith. To refer to Ecclesiastes 9:5 as the final word and biblical teaching is like building a dogma based on the desert temptation without including Christ's responses.
Jehovah's Witnesses often read only individual Bible quotes and the accompanying Watchtower tracts, rather than the Bible itself. This is also the case here, because if they had read further in the Book of Ecclesiastes, as well as the context of Ecclesiastes 9:5, they would (perhaps) have noticed how flawed the picture is. The Ecclesiastes first formulates his statements as a thinking humanist, living in principles that do not provide him with a real answer, which do not belong to God: life is meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:2); the only important thing is for a person to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves (Ecclesiastes 5:17; 10:19); morality is irrelevant (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17); there seems to be no afterlife justice (Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; 9:2,6). A Jehovah's Witness would surely shake their head and protest if someone told them that "one fate awaits everyone: the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean; the one who offers a sacrifice and the one who does not. There is one fate for all. No one can live forever, and no one can have confidence in this." A Jehovah's Witness would surely say that these are not God's thoughts but those of a desperate person who does not trust in the Lord. However, this passage immediately precedes Ecclesiastes 9:5, as it is taken from Ecclesiastes 9:2-4. Therefore, the same should be thought of verse 5.
Later, the Ecclesiastes rejects these thoughts, affirming with certainty: "man goes to his eternal home and the dust returns to the earth from which it came, and the breath of life returns to God who gave it. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:5,7,14)
On the other hand, the Ecclesiastes speaks of the deceased of the Old Testament, the pre-Christian times. Before Christ's redemption, heaven was closed; at that time, the deceased were all together in the underworld (Sheol) in a joyless, dreary existence, even if they were chosen for eternal salvation. Although they were separate from those condemned to hell (see, for example, Ezekiel 32:17-32), this place - as the antechamber of hell - was not a place of joy but of silent sorrow, where even God was not praised. This is completely different from heaven, which was only opened by Christ's crucifixion. From that time on, death became joy, the saints who died began to praise God, and they began to intercede for us.
The pre-Christ Underworld (Sheol or Hades) is not the same as the post-Christ threefold state (hell, purgatory, heaven), although there are similarities. The underworld was a real hell (Gehenna) for the wicked, but for the righteous, there was no state of happiness with God.
Their main verse, Ecclesiastes 9:5-10, which says, "the dead know nothing," is limited to the context found in: "what happens under the sun," verse 6. Compare this with other verses where the same expression is found. "Two hundred men went with Absalom ... they went in their innocence and knew nothing." 2 Samuel 15:11. Another example: "The boy knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter." 1 Samuel 20:39. Paul says about a conceited teacher: "he is puffed up and knows nothing." 1 Timothy 6:4. So, were they completely devoid of thought or consciousness? No. It simply means they knew nothing about the matters at hand. The same applies to Ecclesiastes 9:5. The context explains it: "and they will never again have a share in anything that happens under the sun." Verse 6.
- The Ecclesiastes deals with what happens on earth – "under the sun." This coincides with the Old Testament worldview. The theme is how futile everything is if people try to live without God: "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?" (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3).
- The author looks at it from the living's perspective, that everyone dies, but what they say about the dead is not entirely consistent, e.g., "the dead know nothing," (9:5); cf. "I declared the dead, who had already died, happier than the living, who are still alive." (4:2). "The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." (12:7); cf. "Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" (3:21).
- If we take some verses literally, disregarding the book's purpose, we would have to deny the resurrection and eternal life, e.g., "Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other... All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return." (3:19-20); At people's death: "Their love, their hate, and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun." (9:6); "man goes to his eternal home." (12:5).
- The Ecclesiastes does hint at judgment and eternity: "I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work." (3:17, cf. 11:9; 12:14); "He has also set eternity in the human heart." (3:11). The author encourages us to remember the Creator and obey Him (12:1, 13).
- In summary, the Ecclesiastes teaches that the toil of earthly life without God is utterly meaningless because we will all die. However, based on this book alone, we cannot draw conclusions about the state after death, as that is not its topic, and its related statements are inconsistent.
The Watchtower primarily refers to Old Testament passages, especially the Psalms and the Book of Ecclesiastes, which speak of the transience of man, the broken relationship with God, and the created world in the state of death (e.g., Psalms 6:5; 49:14; 115:7; Ecclesiastes 3:18-22; 9:3-10). If we read these in isolation and do not consider their place in the history of salvation, then we indeed come to a one-sided opinion like Rutherford and his successors. This kind of exegesis, which extracts the texts from their soteriological and overall biblical context and does not take into account the progress, characterizes the Watchtower Society's Bible interpretation.
What is the place of the Ecclesiastes (qohelet) in the history of salvation? This is the level of man's Old Testament knowledge before the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The eternal life and death here - as in the Old Testament in general - do not yet have as clear certainty as in the New Testament. Even if the existence after death is repeatedly mentioned in some places of the Old Testament (e.g., Psalms 88:11; 139:8; Isaiah 26:19; Ezekiel 37; Daniel 12:1; Job 19:25ff). (And except for Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:1ff, the rest are debatable.) Full certainty is only given with the resurrection of Jesus Christ and by him, as the foundation of the general resurrection of the dead. In contrast, we encounter fear of the threatening judgment and the transience of earthly life in many places in the Old Testament, including Ecclesiastes.
The Qohelet is still strongly oriented towards the present world and has no certainty of resurrection to life. However, he reckons that "death is not the end of everything (3:17; 12:7)", that "there is judgment." Ecclesiastes 3:18ff, for example, speaks of "the godless man who only cares for himself, and compared to the animals, he realizes and must admit that there is no difference until death." The line of thought, however, consistently continues to Jesus Christ, who conquers death. The same applies to Ecclesiastes 9:3ff: "The 'under the sun' placement again recognizes that, passing by the sober reality of life next to God's order, the Ecclesiastes, with his observations, is back at the beginning. When Jehovah's Witnesses rely on such places, they do not realize that these are questions that find an answer and fulfillment with Jesus Christ. When Ecclesiastes 3:21 asks, "Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward?", the New Testament passage, 2 Corinthians 5:1, provides the answer: "For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."