Abstract
This paper investigates the theme of change in the book of Ecclesiastes, taking its cue from the statements ‘everything is transient’ (which introduces the book as a whole in 1.2, as well as heralding its closure in 12.8) and ‘for everything a season’ (which introduces a famous poem on the changing of the times in 3.1). The first statement demonstrates within itself a clever orthographic change which can be seen as symbolizing the philosophical meaning it carries, while the second statement—a variation on the first—leads into an intricately woven tapestry in the passage 3.1–8. Change is a universal human experience, and the paper utilizes concepts found in the Chinese ‘Book of Changes’, the I Ching, to chart a fresh reading of the biblical ‘Book of Changes’, Ecclesiastes.
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