Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament: Ecclesiastes

In this contribution to The New International Commentary on the Old Testament, Trevor Longman takes a canonical-Christocentric approach to the meaning of the fascinating but puzzling book of Ecclesiastes.

Written for serious clergy and for well-informed lay readers, this volume contains a sensible treatment of the text, buttressed by copious technical notes and impressive annotated bibliographical materials.

Explaining the text as it engages our own culture's era of questioning and search for self-fulfillment, William P. Brown's commentary succeeds in discerning redemptive truth amid the ambiguity and despair of Ecclesiastes' anguished discourse.

Ecclesiastes, Qoheleth in Hebrew, is a fascinating book. It was written in the Hellenistic Period (3rd-2nd Cent. B.C.) and is one of the latest books in the Old Testament. The author is in search of an answer to the problem he poses in 1:3, 'What profit is there for humans from all their toil at which they toil under the sun?' The answer is: 'None'. Therefore, Ecclesiastes begins and ends his book with a statement that everything is absurd. He does not try to explain away this reality, but he presents enjoyment of life as the best, though not perfect, solution. He has been called an atheist, a pessimist, a sceptic, an Epicurean, but also an optimist, a believing or god-fearing man. He is certainly a nonconformist, and the best characterization is that he is a sceptic or even an agnostic, who undermines all sorts of certainties. He asks many questions but gives few answers. But all this is meant for the best: he speaks honestly with a feeling of compassion with tormented humankind. His book often sounds very modern.

Good advice that stands the test of time-those things we all know are true, tips that help us live the good life-we call wisdom. But, one life time is not enough to master the fine art of living. Distilled over centuries, the biblical book of Ecclesiastes offers us the time-tested advice of Israel's sages. This is the best of wisdom, with echoes of East and West-from Zen and Tao to Merton and Moore--all rolled into one. In Ecclesiastes, Bible scholar Choon-Leong Seow creatively translates and carefully interprets one of the world's most profound, most enduring collections of ancient wisdom. Sometimes joyful and exultant, other times cynical and fatalistic, the ancient author Qohelet ("Teacher") wrestles with the ups and downs of real life. Even today, we recognize and repeat the sayings of this treasure-trove of apt advice. The book begins and ends with the infamous claim, "Vanity of vanities, says Qohelet, vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" In between, the sage leaves no stone unturned in the search for meaning. As the wisdom of biblical Ecclesiastes has stood the test of time, so shall Dr. Seow's Ecclesiastes become a classic in the venerated tradition of the Anchor Bible series.

Over the centuries, Ecclesiastes has influenced a number of diverse areas of life and thought. Ecclesiastes through the centuries assesses the fascinating effects of the book on the culture of the various times in religion, art, and social thought. This book explores a fascinating range of Jewish and Christian readings. It features engaging and unusual examples from art, music, literature and history: from Thackeray and Orwell, to Salvador Dali's Illustrated Bible, to the inflammatory exposition of Ecclesiastes at the funeral of Queen Mary. This is the third Old Testament volume published in the innovative Blackwell Bible commentaries series.

Includes: Commentary on Proverbs -- Commentary on Ecclesiastes -- Commentary on Song of Solomon.

Bonaventure's Commentary on Ecclesiastes may be over 750 years old, but it will still be somewhat "new under the sun" (Eccl 1:9) to most modern commentators. Against the dominant negative understanding of the time (Ecclesiastes teaches contempt of the world), Bonaventure proposes a more positive reading rooted in a theology of creation. Bonaventure's commentary was both original and very influential in the Middle Ages; it deserves to be more familiar to us today.

This first-ever translation into English of this early work by St. Jerome includes a commentary by the Thistranslators that not only elucidates the difficulties but also presents an original view of Jerome's approach to the theological issues raised by this challenging book of the Bible.

Tyndale Old Testament commentaries, V. 16.

Contents: What's it all about? : getting into Ecclesiastes -- Is that all there is? : Ecclesiastes 1-2 -- Who knows? : Ecclesiastes 3 -- "Who's been working the hardest?" : Ecclesiastes 4 -- What about God? : Ecclesiastes 5 -- What about death? : Ecclesiastes 6 and 7 -- So how should I live my life? : Ecclesiastes 9, 11, 12:1-8 -- What it's all about : Ecclesiastes for our time

Contents: pt. 1: What is this book doing in the Bible? --a reconnaissance -- pt. 2: What is the book saying? --a running commentary -- The author, the motto and a survey of the scene 1:1-11 -- The search for satisfaction 1:12--2:26 -- The tyranny of time 3:1-15 -- The harshness of life 3:16--4:3 -- The rat-race 4:4-8 -- A first summary: A backward glance over Ecclesiastes 1:1--4:8 -- Interlude: Some reflections, maxims and home truths 4:9--5:12 -- The bitterness of disappointment 5:13--6:12 -- A second summary: A backward glance over Ecclesiastes 4:9--6:12 -- Interlude: More reflections, maxims and home truth 7:1-22 -- The search goes on 7:23-29 -- Frustration 8:1-17 -- Jeopardy 9:1-18 -- A third summary: A backward glance over Ecclesiastes 7:1--9:18 -- Interlude: Be sensible! 10:1-20 -- Towards home 11:1--12:8 -- Conclusion 12:9-14 -- pt. 3: What are we to say to this? --an epilogue

Contents: 1. Preliminary, polemical, nondefinitive postscript -- My purpose in this book -- The ultimate paradox: Another book on Ecclesiastes -- Presuppositions in studies of Ecclesiastes -- Critical agreement and pseudonymity in Ecclesiastes -- Wisdom and poetry -- Philosophy, truth, and reality in Qohelet -- Qohelet as ritual incantation -- Structure in Qohelet -- Contradiction as an essential principle of Qohelet -- Qohelet and the Feast of Sukkot -- 2. Themes of vanity: Vapor, smoke, unsubstantiality, fragility, and evanescence -- The first word -- The myth of progress -- Meditation -- Power -- Money -- Work -- Happiness -- The good -- Human answers -- Conclusion -- 3. Wisdom and philosophy -- Wisdom: What is it? -- Irony -- Fragility and impossibility -- Science -- The wisdom of small things -- Finiteness and the future -- Finiteness and death -- Tests for wisdom: Applications and examples -- The word -- Possessions -- Women and men -- Conclusion -- Epilogue -- 4. God -- Elohim -- Contradiction -- The God who gives -- God's gifts: Quest and desire for eternity -- God's gift of enjoyment -- God as Judge -- Approaching God -- Qohelet's crowning words

Contents: Part 1: Introduction. 1. The problem: pessimism and the Canon -- 2. The literary genre of Kohelet -- 3. The themes of Kohelet -- 4. K versus P: the dialogue of characters -- 5. K versus P: the dialogue of topics -- 6. The present translation, commentary, and notes -- Part 2: Dialogues with K: translation and commentary. -- I. The presenter P announces K's motto and thesis (1:1-3) -- II. Prologue on the nature of things: analogies from nature (1:4-11) -- III. The experiment with experience (1:12-2:26) -- IV. The two times or directions: human nature versus nature (2:26b-3:8) -- V. God's hidden purposes (3:9-15) -- VI. The place of justice (3:16-22) -- VII. A debate in proverbs: on the one versus the many (4:1-16) -- VIII. On sages and fools: let your words be few and fear God (4:17-5:8) -- IX. What is true wealth? (5:9-6:9a) -- X. Transition: what is man? (6:9b-11) -- XI. Beginnings and ends (again the two directions) (6:12-7:12) -- XII. More on God's purposes and justice (7:13-29) -- XIII. Reacting to absolute power: obedience or wisdom (8:1-7) -- XIV. On wickedness and retribution (8:8-9:3) -- XV. To life! (9:4-10) -- XVI. More on sages and fools (9:11-10:7) -- XVII. A debate in proverbs (10:8-11:10) -- XVIII. An allegory on old age and death (12:1-7) -- XIX. P's epilogue and the ongoing tradition of righting (12:8-14) -- Part 3: Additional notes and remarks. -- 1. Additional note on Kohelet -- 2. Excursus: dialogue and its methods

Ignatius Catholic Study Bible with an introduction, commentary, and notes by Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch ; and with study questions by Dennis Walter.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon states that "all is vapor" and describes humans as trying to "shepherd the wind." In Solomon among the Postmoderns, author Peter J. Leithart uses these claims, as well as the entire book of Ecclesiastes, to show how Solomon resonated with postmodernism. Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of postmodernism, Leithart shows how the theory reflects an important biblical theme: the elusiveness and instability of the world. But he goes on to show that biblical faith takes us beyond cynicism and despair. Solomon among the Postmoderns will appeal to academics and laypeople alike seeking a biblical view of postmodernism.

By looking carefully at the language and thought of Ecclesiastes, as well as at its uses of contradictions in probing the meaning of life, Fox confronts the problems that have confounded interpretation of this biblical book. He shows that by using contradiction to tear down holistic claims of meaning and purpose in the world and rebuilding meaning in a local, restricted sense instead, the author of Ecclesiastes shapes a bold, honest, and ultimately uplifting vision of life.

Contents: Was there something I was supposed to do with my life? -- The most dangerous book in the Bible -- The loneliness of looking out for number one -- When it hurts too much to feel -- Feeling no pain, feeling no joy -- "But the fool walks in darkness" -- Who's afraid of the fear of God? -- Go eat your bread in gladness -- Why I am not afraid to die -- One question left unanswered