“Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless.” The word “meaningless” (hebel) appears more than 40 times in the book of Ecclesiastes and raises the question why a book that appears to deny meaning or purpose is included in the Bible. Many questions of interpretation as well as relevance surround the book of Ecclesiastes, including indeed the proper translation and understanding of the word hebel. If, after all, the book does examine the question of the meaning of life, what could be more important?
The present volume explores Ecclesiastes/Qohelet on many different levels: linguistic, text-critical, theological, historical, and literary. The contributors, chosen from many of the leading and emerging experts on the book, present both the state of the field and their own assessment of the varied interpretive issues of Ecclesiastes. They include scholars, preachers, and philosophers. It should be helpful not only to scholars but also to all who want to study this book seriously.
The first section of this volume deals with the history of interpretation. The second section is concerned with issues of history, form, and rhetoric. Section three is about key concepts and passages. The fourth section focuses on the language and grammar of Qohelet. The last section engages practical issues of interpretation. The volume is designed to provide exposure to a variety of readers who seek to engage Qohelet in fresh ways in the twenty-first century—from historians of interpretation to biblical exegetes to linguists to theological students.
Preface
Part 1: Early History of Interpretation
Ecclesiastes in Premodern Reading: Before 1500 C.E.
Eric S. Christianson
Qohelet and the Rabbis
Ruth Sandberg
Ecclesiastes and the Reformers
Al Wolters
Sweet and Lawful Delights: Puritan Interpretations of Ecclesiastes
Cristian G. Rata
Part 2: History, Form, and Rhetoric
Determining the Historical Context of Ecclesiastes
Tremper Longman III
The Book of Qohelet “Has the Smell of the Tomb about It”:
Mortality in Qohelet and Hellenistic Skepticism
Leo G. Perdue
Qohelet and Royal Autobiography
Martin A. Shields
Framed! Structure in Ecclesiastes
David J. H. Beldman
The Poetry of Qohelet
John F. Hobbins
Part 3: Key Concepts and Passages
Epistemology in Ecclesiastes:
Remembering What It Means to Be Human
Ryan P. O’Dowd
“Riddled with Ambiguity”: Ecclesiastes 7:23–8:1 as an Example
Doug Ingram
The Meaning of hebel in Qohelet: An Intertextual Suggestion
Russell L. Meek
Speaking into the Silence: The Epilogue of Ecclesiastes
Mark J. Boda
Part 4: Language and Grammar
The Grammar of -? and ??? in Qohelet
Robert Holmstedt
The Verb in Qohelet
John Cook
“Aramaisms” in Qohelet: Methodological Problems in Identification and Interpretation
Eva Mroczek
Part 5: Interpreting Qohelet
The Theology of Ecclesiastes
Craig G. Bartholomew
Ecclesiastes and the Canon
Stephen G. Dempster
Fresh Perspectives on Ecclesiastes: “Qohelet for Today”
Iain Provan
Preaching Qohelet
Daniel C. Fredericks
Solomon’s Sexual Wisdom: Qohelet and the Song of Songs in the Postmodern Condition
