Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qlrfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T07:39:30.669Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Ecclesiastes

from Part II - Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Bible

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2022

Katherine J. Dell
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Suzanna R. Millar
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Arthur Jan Keefer
Affiliation:
Eton College
Get access

Summary

Mette Bundvad considers Ecclesiastes as a book of contradictions and one that has a peculiar narrator and special thematic concerns. Instead of giving a catalogue of possible or plausible contradictions in the book, Bundvad surveys the ways in which scholars have reckoned with the book’s evident tensions. The question that emerges, then, is whether these contradictions are a feature of the book or a ‘bug’ of sorts. Ecclesiastes’ portrayal of its narrator falls under the rubric of these very tensions, exhibiting a man, or men, who wears various guises and no one persona. Bundvad concludes with reflections about the book’s treatment of time, a theme that does not resolve every tension but does open up new questions and possible structures.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Further Reading

Bolin, Thomas M. Ecclesiastes and the Riddle of Authorship. New York: 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bundvad, Mette. Time in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs. Oxford: 2015.Google Scholar
Burkes, Shannon. Death in Qoheleth and Egyptian Biographies of the Late Period. SBLDS 170. Atlanta: 1999.Google Scholar
Christianson, Eric A. A Time to Tell: Narrative Strategies in Ecclesiastes. JSOTSup 280. Sheffield: 1998.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, James L. Ecclesiastes. OTL. Grand Rapids: 1987.Google Scholar
Fox, Michael V. A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up: A Re-reading of Ecclesiastes. Grand Rapids: 1999.Google Scholar
Ingram, Doug. Ambiguity in Ecclesiastes. LHBOTS 431. New York; London: 2006.Google Scholar
Machinist, Peter. ‘Fate, miqreh, and Reason: Some Reflections on Qohelet and Biblical Thought’. Pages 259275 in Solving Riddles and Untying Knots: Biblical, Epigraphic, and Semitic Studies in Honor of Jonas C. Greenfield. Edited by Zevit, Ziony, Gitin, Seymour and Sokoloff, Michael. Winona Lake: 2005.Google Scholar
Miller, Douglas. ‘Qoheleth’s symbolic use of הבל’. JBL 117 (1998): 437454.Google Scholar
Newsom, Carol A.Job and Ecclesiastes’. Pages 177194 in Old Testament Interpretation: Past, Present, and Future (Essays in Honor of Gene M. Tucker). Edited by Mays, James Luther, Petersen, David L. and Richards, Kent Harold. Nashville: 1995.Google Scholar
Seow, Choon-Leong. Ecclesiastes: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB 18. New Haven; London: 2008.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×