Ecclesiastes Qoheleth

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Ecclesiastes - Qoheleth

• APTS-BIB508-2006

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Name

• "The Hebrew title of the book is Qoheleth, the
  supposed name or title of its author. . . .
  'Ecclesiastes' is the Latinized form of the Greek
  translation of the Hebrew word, which translators
  interpreted to mean . . . , a member of the
  citizen's assembly." Seow
• "The name "Koheleth" probably means one who
  teaches the public. . . ." Fox

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Author Problems

• Important Text
• 1. The words of Qoheleth son of David, King in
  Jerusalem (11).
• 2. The ultimate absurdity, says Qoheleth, the
  ultimate absurdity everything is absurd (12).
• 3. I Qoheleth have been king over Israel in
  Jerusalem (112).
• 4. Look, I have discovered this-says
  Qoheleth-adding one to one in order to find the
  sum (727).
• 5. The ultimate absurdity, says the Qoheleth,
  everything is absurd (128).
• 6. In addition to the fact that Qoheleth was a
  sage, he also taught the people knowledge
  (129a-b).
• 7. Qoheleth sought to find pleasing words and
  accurately wrote down trustworthy sayings
  (1210)."

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Author

• "In its canonical form the identification assures
  the reader that the attack on wisdom which
  Ecclesiastes contains is not to be regarded as
  the personal idiosyncrasy of a nameless teacher.
  Rather, by his speaking in the guise of Solomon,
  whose own history now formed part of the
  community's common memory, his attack on wisdom
  was assigned an authoritative role as the final
  reflections of Solomon. As the source of
  Israel's wisdom, his words serve as an official
  corrective from within the wisdom tradition
  itself. Once this point was made, the literary
  fiction of Solomon was dropped." Childs

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Structure

• "The most influential is that of A. Wright, who
  sees a complex hierarchical design based on
  keywords and repeated phrases." Fox
• Initial Poem (1.2-11)
• I. Koheleth's Investigation of Life (1.12-6.9)
• II. Koheleth's Conclusions (6.10-11.6)
• Introduction (6.10-12)
• A. Man cannot find out what is good for him to do
  (7.1-8.17)
• B. Man does not know what will come after him
  (9.1-11.6)
• Concluding Poem (11.7-12.8)
• Epilogue (12.9-14)

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Author

• "Three things weaken the argument for viewing
  "Qoheleth" as a personal name, a substitute for
  "Solomon" (1) the use of the article (2) the
  identification of Qoheleth as a wise man
  (????????), presumably a technical term in this
  instance (129) and (3) the point of view from
  which the book is written, except for the royal
  fiction in 112-226." Crenshaw

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Author

• "Since the nineteenth century, critical
  scholarship has not regarded Solomon as the
  actual author, on several grounds. First of all,
  the book's language and background assumptions
  indicate a postexilic dating . . . . Second, the
  epilogue (129) does not speak of Koheleth as
  king. Koheleth takes on the role of king only in
  112-226. After that, he reveals the perspective
  of a nonroyal sage, a member of the class who may
  have contact with rulers and would have reason to
  fear their erratic anger (82-4, 9). And third,
  Koheleth blames the royal administrative
  apparatus for social injustice (57). This is
  something that Solomon, who founded the Judean
  royal administration, would not have been likely
  to do." Fox

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Text Masoretic Text

• "In general, the Hebrew text is in good order,
  there being relatively few textual corruptions.
  In a few places, however, the scribes seem to
  have misdivided the words . . . . There are also
  a number of Ketib-Qere readings in MT. . .
  however, the Ketib-Qere variants do not affect
  the meaning of the text." Seow

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Text Qumran

• Two manuscripts of the Qoheleth were discovered.
  4QQoha is dated to 175-150 BCE, while 4QQohb is
  said to have been written in the "later half of
  the first century BCE." Abegg, Flint Ulrich
• "4QQoha-b demonstrate, as do MSS generally,
  apparently minor but occasional individual
  textual variants from what later became the
  traditional text." Ulrich

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Text Greek

• "The translation technique of LXX Ecclesiastes is
  unique among the books in the Bible, so that one
  may say with a reasonable amount of certainty
  that the translator is not the same as for any
  other books. The translation shows a number of
  features that are typical of the works of Aquila
  of Pontus . . . . Aquila . . . is best known for
  his translation of the Hebrew Bible into
  literalistic Greek, among other reasons, to
  provide Jews who spoke Greek but did not read
  Hebrew or Aramaic with a translation that would
  reflect the Hebrew as much as possible. Thus, the
  Hebrew word order is rigidly adhered to and all
  details in Hebrew are represented, even when they
  seem awkward or even nonsensical in Greek. . . ."
  Seow
• ". . . LXX is not Aquila's work after all but a
  version that, like Aquila, is motivated by the
  desire to facilitate certain kinds of exegesis
  promoted by the rabbis." Seow

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Qoheleth's Teaching

• "Koheleth says that he set out "to study and to
  probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun"
  (113). The boldest, most radical notion in the
  book is not Koheleth's contradictions, his
  pessimism, or his observations of injustices, It
  is the belief that the individual can and should
  proceed toward truth by means of his own powers
  of perception and reasoning and that he can in
  this way discover truths previously unknown.
  There are not external rules, no doctrines or
  traditions to which his conclusions must conform.
  This is the approach of philosophy, and its
  appearance in Ecclesiastes probably reflects a
  Jewish awareness of this type of thinking among
  foreign intellectuals." Fox

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Qoheleth's Teaching - Crenshaw

• "According to the thematic statement in 12 and
  128, he sought to demonstrate the claim that
  life lacked profit and therefore was totally
  absurd. In support of this thesis, Qoheleth
  argued (1) that wisdom could not achieve its
  goal (2) that a remote God ruled over a crooked
  world and (3) death did not take virtue or vice
  into consideration. Hence (4), he advocated
  enjoyment as the wisest course of action during
  youth before the cares of advancing years made
  that response impossible." Crenshaw

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• "To sum up, Qoheleth taught by means of various
  literary types that earlier optimistic claims
  about wisdom's power to secure one's existence
  have no validity. No discernible principle of
  order governs the universe, rewarding virtue and
  punishing evil. The creator, distant and
  uninvolved, acts as judge only (if at all) in
  extreme cases of flagrant affront (for example,
  reneging on religious vows). Death cancels all
  imagined gains, rendering life under the sun
  absurd. Therefore the best policy is to enjoy
  one's wife, together with good food and drink,
  during youth, for old age and death will soon put
  an end to this "relative" good. In short,
  Qoheleth examined all of life and discovered no
  absolute good that would survive death's effect.
  He then proceeded to report this discovery and to
  counsel young people on the best option in the
  light of stark reality. It follows that Qoheleth
  bears witness to an intellectual crisis in
  ancient Israel, at least in the circles among
  whom he taught." Crenshaw

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Qoheleth's Teaching Fox

• 1. The Problem. "The underlying issue that
  Ecclesiastes addresses is the possibility of
  meaningfulness in life. For events to be
  meaningful, they would have to cohere in a
  comprehensive picture."
• "A life with a strict correspondence between deed
  and consequence, virtue and reward, vice and
  punishment, would make sense."
• "Koheleth is frustrated that life does not make
  sense in this way. . . . Frustrated by such
  incoherence and irrationality, Koheleth calls the
  world hevel 'senseless' or 'absurd'."

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Qoheleth's Teaching Fox

• 2. Affirmations. "Koheleth is not a nihilist.
  "Everything is absurd" is to be understood as
  expressing a general characterization of life,
  not as an absolute proposition negating all
  possible activities and values."
• "Koheleth does find some things worthwhile
  moderate work temperate enjoyment of the
  pleasures that come to hand love and friendship
  gaining and using whatever wisdom is within our
  capacity being reasonably righteous fearing
  God and hoping for divine justice."

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Qoheleth's Teaching Fox

• 3. God. "Koheleth speaks of God with no warmth
  and expects no fellowship from Him. God controls
  the details of human life but keeps a distance."

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Qoheleth's Teaching Fox

• "This is not an encouraging theology, nor is it
  meant to be. For Koheleth seeks to open eyes to
  the world as he sees it, and this world is a grim
  one . . . . In most of the Bible, God has
  relations, whether loving or hostile, to nations
  and individuals and God though not fully
  predictable almost always acts in accordance
  with transparent principles of justice. But the
  entirety of biblical thought does not reside in
  every book. Ecclesiastes must be read as one
  voice adding a unique perspective to the diverse
  collection of ideas that constitute the Bible."

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Qoheleth's Teaching Fox

• 4. Doubt and Belief. ". . Koheleth never sets
  forth a conventional idea as an erroneous dogma
  that he proposes to defeat or modify. He never
  distances himself from the principles he finds
  contradicted. . . . Koheleth holds to conflicting
  ideas, and he is troubled."

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Qoheleth's Teaching Fox

• "Koheleth places himself among the wise and shows
  no awareness that his observations clash with the
  beliefs of other sages. He does not attack the
  principle of retributive justice . . . . He
  believes in divine justice but sees it
  contradicted, and . . . throws up his hands in
  frustration and calls what he see hevel."

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Qoheleth's Teaching Fox

• 5. The Epilogue (Another Voice) "The epilogue
  looks back and evaluates Koheleth from a more
  conventional and conservative standpoint,
  assuring the reader that he was a wise and
  eloquent teacher, but also warning that the words
  of the wise hold certain dangers. What is most
  important? Fearing God, obeying His commandments,
  and living in awareness of God's ultimate
  judgment."