2. Why he imposed the name קֹהֶלֶת/Qoheleth/Preacher upon himself?
Solomon imposed the name קֹהֶלֶת/Qoheleth/Preacher upon himself, which the Chaldean and Syriac retain, and is rendered אלגאמע/Collector by the Arabic, Ἐκκλησιαστὴν/Ecclesiastes by the Septuagint, Ecclesiastes by the Vulgate. Various render various reasons for the name. To us the opinion of the Most Learned Cartwright and others does not displease, asserting that from the Pual,[1] is signifies a soul gathered or collected,[2] and so Solomon ἐπισυναγόμενον, congregated, gathered, to the Church, namely, through repentance. For, that he calls himself קֹהֶלֶת/Qoheleth in the feminine gender, gathered (the soul, neither the body, nor Solomon[3]), appears in a measure to insinuate the εἰλικρίνειαν/sincerity of the gathering or repentance. Moreover, the Hebrews advise that קֹהֶלֶת/Qoheleth is the same thing as איש בעל נפש קהלת, the man furnished with the soul of Qoheleth. Nevertheless, we do not at all object that the book might also be entitled Ecclesiastes and the Preacher, since it contains a most shining proclamation of the highest good of man, with false opinons concerning this refuted.