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5 - Ecclesiastes and the Meaning of Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2022

Arthur Keefer
Affiliation:
Eton College
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Summary

This chapter determines how Qohelet addressed life’s “meaningfulness” by drawing on a threefold scheme of definitions for life’s meaning, including coherence, purpose and significance. These definitions are derived from psychological research and used to argue that all three conceptions appear within the book of Ecclesiastes. Qohelet was primarily concerned with life’s “coherence,” which depends on predictable and reliable patterns in life that render it sensible, and yet he also addressed life’s “purpose” and “significance.” while primarily determining how these three forms of meaning, along with their attendant ideas, are handled within Ecclesiastes itself, this chapter also demonstrates how resources from psychological research help to resolve apparent debates among biblical interpreters, who agree far more than it at first appears once clearer definitions of “meaning” are employed.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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