The NIV Application Commentary Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs.;Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs have always presented particular challenges to their readers, especially if those readers are seeking to understand them as part of Christian Scripture.;Ecclesiastes regularly challenges the reader as to grammar and syntax.;The interpretation even of words which occur frequently in the book is often unclear and a matter of dispute, partly because there is frequent word-play in the course of the argument.;The argument is itself complex and sometimes puzzling and has often provoked the charge of inconsistency or outright self-contradiction.;When considered in the larger context of the OT, Ecclesiastes stands out as an unusual book, whose connection with the main stream of biblical tradition seems tenuous. We find ourselves apparently reading about the meaninglessness of life and the certainty of death in a universe in which God is certainly present but is distant and somewhat uninvolved.;When considered in the context of the NT, the dissonance between Ecclesiastes and its scriptural context seems even greater; for if there is one thing that we do not find in this book, it is the joy of resurrection.;Perhaps this is one reason why Ecclesiastes is seldom read or preached on in modern churches.