Ecclesiastes is one of the books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.
The title of the novel Evil Under the Sun comes from Ecclesiastes 6:1-6:2 (King James Version):
- 6:1 “There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:”
- 6:2 “A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.”
In the novel Appointment with Death, Dr Gérard quotes Ecclesiastes 4:1-4:3:
- “So I returned and did consider all the oppressions done beneath the sun. And there was weeping and whining from those that were oppressed and had no comfort; for with their oppressors there was power, so that no one came to comfort them. Then I did praise the dead which are already dead, yea, more than the living which linger still in life; yea, he that is not is better than dead or living; for he doth not know of the evil that is wrought forever on earth...”