Losing Power, Finding Joy: a critique of personal and political power from the eyes of anti-wisdom. An exegesis of Ecclesiastes 8 (original) (raw)
Related papers
Qohelet's Courtly Wisdom: Ecclesiastes 8:1-9
Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2006
ECCLESIASTES 8:1-9 has long posed interpretive problems. William A. Irwin remarked on the views of his contemporaries in 1945, "By common consent we have here a series of more or less disconnected comments, perhaps in some way gathered about the general theme of monarchs and despots." 1 This fragmenting interpretive tendency, undoubtedly facilitated by a text that is among the most difficult in the book, is not merely a thing of the past. Several scholars have more recently expressed doubts about the coherence of the passage, interpreting it as a dialectic between traditional wisdom and contrary, relativizing statements. 2 In addition to these assumptions regarding the role of traditional material, problems in delimiting the scope of the passage and radically different translations of A version of this essay was presented under the title "Visionaries, Kings, and the Rhetoric of Retribution in Ecclesiastes 8:1-9" at the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 2003.1 am grateful for the insights and conversation at that venue and also especially for the comments and criticisms of C. L. Seow. All of the essay's shortcomings are my own. 1 William A. Irwin, "Ecclesiastes 8:2-9," JNES4 (1945) 130-31, here 130. 2 Diethelm Michel ("Qohelet Probleme: Überlegungen zu Qoh 8,2-9 und 7,11-14," Theologia Viatorum 15 [1979-80] 81-103, esp. 87-92) believes that 8:2-5 is a quotation of traditional wisdom that is critiqued in w. 6-9. He is followed by Pane Beentjes, "'Who Is Like the Wise?': Some Notes on Qohelet 8, 1-15," in Qohelet in the Context of Wisdom (ed. Anton Schoors; BETL 136; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1998) 303-15, here 306. Roland E. Murphy {Ecclesiastes [WBC 23A; Dallas: Word, 1992] 82) sees w. 2-4 as modifying v. 1, w. 6-12a as modifying v. 5, and vv. 14-15 opposing vv. 12b-13. Norbert Lohfink (Kohelet [NEchtB; 4th ed.; Würzburg: Echter Verlag, 1993] 60) also proposes the final two pairs of opposition. Evidence of this tendency is found also in the most recent full-scale commentary on Ecclesiastes by Ludger Schwienhorst-211 212 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY | 68,2006
Debating Wisdom: The Role of Voice in Ecclesiastes
This paper argues for the presence of three distinct voices in Ecclesiastes: Qfn, Qs, and Qp. Qfn is the Frame-Narrator. Speaking in the third person, he introduces and concludes the skeptic’s words and worldview via proverbial reflections. His trademark phrases are “vanity of vanities” and “says the Preacher.” Qs is the voice of Qoheleth taking on the persona of Solomon. Speaking in the first person, he is Qoheleth’s foil, the skeptic whose views will ultimately be defeated by Qp, the Preacher. If even Solomon, the richest and wisest man in ancient Israel, could find life meaningless, how much more would that be the case for the hoi polloi? Despite the futility of Solomon’s endeavors, Qp teaches his students to fear God, keep his commandments, and consider the works of God, because “God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil” (12:14).
Ecclesiastes in Recent Research: Sneed, Barbour, Weeks, Robinson
ETS Northeast Region Annual Meeting, 2014
A number of important books on Ecclesiastes have appeared in recent years, including works by Sneed, Barbour, Weeks, and Robinson. The first two of these began as doctoral dissertations (which usually means a fresh approach). Sneed contributes a thoroughly sociological interpretation of Ecclesiastes, following the theories of Max Weber. Sneed locates Qoheleth as one of the retainer class. He argues that Qoheleth used pessimism as a coping mechanism and survival strategy within the oppressive socio-historical context of Ptolemaic Judah. Barbour's approach is unique because she sees historical allusions in Ecclesiastes, although not in the obvious way that others have seen the presence of some historical situations. Her major contribution is the interpretation of Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 in terms of a city lament. The thesis of Weeks' book is that Ecclesiastes cannot properly be called skeptical. A more important contribution, however, is in his innovative interpretation of several passages, including the identification of rhetorical questions, which other interpreters had always taken as statements. Robinson has done a great service to Ecclesiastes scholarship in his translation and publication of Salmon ben Yeroham's medieval commentary of Ecclesiastes (written in Arabic, using Hebrew characters). The document was previously translated only into Hebrew (in an unpublished dissertation), and Robinson has also provided critical apparatus for most of the available manuscripts. My presentation will introduce and evaluate the new ideas in these four publications on Ecclesiastes. Bibliographical data: Mark R. Sneed, The Politics of Pessimism in Ecclesiastes: A Social-Science Perspective, Ancient Israel and its Literature. Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature, 2012. Reviewed by Stephen J. Bennett and Charles Awasu in Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 13 (2013). Available online at: http://jhsonline.org/reviews/reviews\_new/review692.htm Jennie Barbour, The Story of Israel in the Book of Qohelet: Ecclesiastes as Cultural Memory, Oxford Theological Monographs. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Reviewed by Stephen J. Bennett in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 56/3 (2013) 603-605. Stuart Weeks, Ecclesiastes and Scepticism. LHBOTS 541. New York: T & T Clark International, 2012. Reviewed by Stephen J. Bennett in Vetus Testamentum 63/3 (2013) 510-512. Available online for subscribers at: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/10.1163/15685330-12340011 James T. Robinson, Asceticism, Eschatology, Opposition to Philosophy: The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Salmon ben Yeroham on Qohelet (Ecclesiastes).Études sur le Judaïsme Médiéval, Tome XLV. Karaite Texts and Studies, Volume 5. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2012. Reviewed by Stephen J. Bennett in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 57/1 March, 2014 (anticipated).
QOHELET'S SOCIAL SETTING: A SOCIO-RHETORICAL READING OF ECCLESIASTES
Doctoral Dissertation, 2015
The history of interpretation of Ecclesiastes demonstrates a wide range of approaches to the book’s message. In order to contribute to this variety, the central interest of this thesis concerns the traces of the primary cultural, social, and economical domains, values, and patterns embedded in the text of Ecclesiastes, as well as the rhetorical strategies the author used to convey them to his original audience. My aim was to interpret the available data in the terms and categories of the modern reader: starting from the emic perspective embedded in Qohelet’s words, and moving to the etic perspective, hence the interpretation of the implied author’s reflections about his world. I suggest that the socio-rhetorical analysis of Ecclesiastes, aided by social scientific tools, has the potential to enhance the modern readers’ understanding and appreciation of the timeless wisdom mediated by Qohelet. The results led me to conclude that the implied author intentionally chose his words to mirror not only the social, cultural, and economic phenomena of his community, but also to convey a message through them which would instruct the readers and rationalize the complex social and cultural constructs his contemporaries had to face. The comparative study of Qohelet’s intertextuality revealed the most connections with the Hellenistic world, while the common social and cultural topics in the text revealed more of the socio-cultural context behind the text. Based on the research, my conclusion is that Qohelet was a Jewish scribe in Ptolemaic Jerusalem, who wanted not only to pass on wisdom to the next generation, but also to advise his people how to manage the challenges of governmental, economical, and social changes of Hellenism without losing their identity and the traditional values their religion required of them. Keywords: Qohelet, socio-rhetorical interpretation, socio-cultural context, texture, social sciences
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ecclesiastes
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ecclesiastes, 2020
There is a significant overlap, of course, between Schoors' 2013 commentary and his earlier works-in particular The Preacher I and II. The commentary became available only after I had finished a significant proportion of my own work, and I have retained existing references to these other studies, but noted places where the views expressed in his commentary differ.
Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, and the Question of God
Journal of Theological Interpretation, 2022
| This essay explores the question of the role and character of God in the book of Ecclesiastes. The essay identifies the places in Ecclesiastes (especially in Qoheleth's discourse) where God appears as a topic of discussion, attempts to classify these passages, and analyzes them in light of the whole. The essay also explores and evaluates the surprising absence of God in Qoheleth's discourse.
BI621X: Exegesis of ECCLESIASTES
Course Description This course is intended to be a verse-by-verse exegetical study of the book of Ecclesiastes with a view to: 1) properly translating and evaluating the text grammatically from the original language, 2) properly interpreting the basic meaning, as well as the theological and practical significance of the text, and 3) preparing the student to engage in a personal expository series from the text. The course will further refine skills covered in Hebrew Exegetical Methodology, including: • Principles of translation • Syntactical analysis—Hebrew grammar and syntax • Structural analysis • Textual analysis—OT textual criticism • Lexical analysis—Hebrew philology, semantics, and lexicography • Literary analysis—OT literary devices, structures and forms • Ancient near eastern (hereafter, ANE) backgrounds (historical/political, social/cultural, geographical) • Evaluation of OT commentaries • Exposition
DavarLogos, 2018
In the book of Ecclesiastes, the motif of “fear of God” can be designated as the supreme song and quintessence of biblical piety (Delitzsch, Ecclesiastes, 183). This motif that appears seven times in the book (3,14; 5,7; 7,18; 8,12, twice, 13; 12,13), finds in its epilogue its theological synthesis. However, the passage in Ecclesiastes 12,13.14 has been commonly evaluated by book scholars as a later textual addition by a second author or simply the intervention of a wise commentator. In this article the text of Ecclesiastes 12,13-14 will be approached (with special emphasis on verse 13), through an exegetical analysis according to its own textual design within the book, examining its vocabulary both in its two final verses as well as throughout chapter 12. Also will be analyzed the linguistic connections with the rest of the book and how this passage turns out to be an elaborate conclusion of the wise writer. In this study, some intertextual relations with sapiential, poetic, and prophetic literature will be examined, with the purpose of demonstrating how this text offers us a rich theology for the entire Hebrew Bible focused especially on the important relationship between the moral character of the human being, the Decalogue as their fundamental life norm, and the eschatological orientation of the last verses of Ecclesiastes. The Qohelet’s epilogue can be considered a veritable master theological work and the present article will seek to investigate in this passage and its truths for our time.
Is Life Vanity? Reinterpreting the Qoheleth's Elusive Use of Hevel in Ecclesiastes
Journal of Religion and Human Relations, 2022
Over the years, the translation of hevel as "vanity" has had great influence in the history of the exegesis of Ecclesiastes. This present author has often heard or seen preachers use the text under study to caution people about the "vanity" of life and of acquisition of riches. Often preachers have used this text to call their audience to "abandoned resignation"; since for them, the Qoheleth's statements connote that all that occurs under the sun is "vanity". This paper tries to critically reexamine how the Qoheleth uses the word, hevel in Ecclesiastes in order to understand the essence of the book. The methodologies adopted are the historical-critical analysis and grammatical-historical analysis approaches. The findings show that the Qoheleth does use hevel with a variety of nuances. However, the basic meaning of the word is "vapor", "breath" but sometimes the context points to "temporary" sometimes to "ungraspable". Thus, the Qoheleth may not have been pessimistic about life but only disturbed about life's essence in the light of its ephemeral or transient nature. The study ended by recommending that people should not be passive in life. Life can be meaningful and enjoyable when people obey God's laws and fear Him.