Grace Theological
Journal 7.1 (1986) 21-56
Copyright © 1986 by Grace
Theological Seminary; cited with permission.
QOHELETH:
ENIGMATIC PESSIMIST
OR GODLY SAGE?
ARDEL
B. CANEDAY
The enigmatic character and polarized structure
of the book of
Qoheleth is not a defective
quality but rather a deliberate literary
device
of Hebrew thought patterns designed to reflect the paradoxical
and
anomalous nature of this present world. The difficulty of inter-
preting (his book is
proportionally related to one's own readiness
to adopt Qoheleth's
presupposition-that everything about this world
is
marred by the tyranny of the curse which the Lord God placed
upon
all creation. If one fails to recognize that this is a foundational,
presupposition
from which Ecclesiastes operates, then one will fail
to comprehend the message of the book, and
bewilderment will
continue.
* * *
introduction
The book of Qoheleth,1
commonly known as Ecclesiastes, is per-
haps
the most enigmatic of all the sacred writings. It is this qual-
ity which has been a source of sharp criticism.
Virtually every aspect
of
the book has come under the censure of critics-- its professed
authorship,2
its scope and design, its unity and coherence, its theo-
logical
orthodoxy, and its claim to a place among the inspired writings.
A superficial reading of Qoheleth may lead one to believe he is a
man
with a decidedly negative view of life in its many facets. This
negative
quality has been disproportionately magnified by liberal
1 Though the
meaning of tl,h,qo
continues to be much debated, the sense accepted
here is connected with the Hebrew verb for
assembling (lhaqA),
and its form suggests
some killed of office-bearer (the feminine
ending). Qoheleth was one who assembled a
congregation for the purpose of addressing it,
thus the Preacher. See H. C. Leupold,
Exposition
of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1966) 7.
2 The Solomonic authorship has been widely rejected by scholars,
both critical
and conservative. Some noted conservatives opt
for a post-exilic dating of the
book. See, e.g., E. W. Hengstenberg,
Commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes
(reprint;
22
Grace Theological Seminary
critics
and conservatives alike. Understandably, then, Qoheleth
has
become the delight of critics and the embarrassment of conservatives.
Embarrassment
has led to greater perplexity about the book, and
perplexity
has brought negligent disuse of this valuable book.
Certainly the viewpoint of Qoheleth
upon the world and life
must
be included in any discussion of OT ethical problems. If the
book
is indeed a unity, the composition of a single wise man, what is
its
theme? Is it pessimistic? Can a completely pessimistic view of life
be
admitted a place in the canon of Holy Scripture? Does not the
recurring
theme of "a man can do nothing better than to eat and
drink
and find satisfaction in his work" (cf.
gest an Epicurean influence? Perhaps Stoicism, too,
has influenced
Qoheleth, for he claims, "All is vanity"
(1: 2; etc.). What exactly is
Qoheleth's view of the world and of life? What was
the source-of
his
ethics? Is Qoheleth the record of a man's search for
meaning gone
awry,
ending in cynicism? Or, is it the book of a godly wise man who
gives
orthodox counsel for directing one's path through the labyrinth
of
life?
QOHELETH IN THE HANDS OF LIBERAL CRITICS
Modern critics have seized upon the alleged
disunity of Qoheleth
and
upon the presumed contradictions. This alleged antithetical char-
acter has led critics to disavow the single
authorship of Qoheleth, to
discredit
the theological expressions, to disclaim its ethics and view of
the
world and of life, and to displace the book from its authority and
position
as one of the writings of Holy Scripture.
Earlier critics, such as
for
the book in order to accommodate the alleged influence of Greek
philosophical
schools.
Qoheleth in terms of conflicting influences from
Epicureanism and
Stoicism.4
To Tyler the recognition of discontinuity and discordance
Old Testament (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1952) 339-41. Young suggests that the
author, being post-exilic, placed his words into
the mouth of Solomon, employing a
conventional literary device of his time
(p.340). However, in favor of Solomonic
authorship see G. L. Archer, "The
Linguistic Evidence for the Date of 'Ecclesiastes,'"
JETS
12 (1969) 167-81.
3 Thomas Tyler, Ecclesiastes (London: D. Nutt, 1899)
30-32.
4
its contrasts not infrequently assuming the form
of decided and obvious contradiction.
This antithetical character is especially marked
in those two great thoughts of the
philosophical part of the book-the Stoic, ALL IS
VANITY; and the Epicurean, EAT,
DRINK, AND ENJOY."
CANEDAY: QOHELETH:
PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 23
within
Qoheleth is an assumed fact without need of proof.
Hence, it is
of
little consequence for
upon
a late Hebrew writer, subject to the erosion of the ancient
Jewish
faith.5
in
Qoheleth which would show that it has no real
discordant or
antithetical
character and especially no "obvious contradictions, as
for
example, that between the Stoic and Epicurean. . . .”6
One might fancy that the author of Ecclesiastes
intended that the con-
trarieties of this book should in
some sort reflect and image forth the
chequered web of man's earthly
condition, hopes alternating with fears,
joys succeeded by sorrows, life contrasting with
death. It must not be
supposed, however, that we can find an adequate
explanation in the
hypothesis that the author of Ecclesiastes
arranged his materials in a
varied and artistic manner?7
The denial of an overall literary plan for Qoheleth and a dislike
for
its ethical expression, which motivated
motivates
other negative criticisms. Recent critics do not identify
Qoheleth’s philosophy as being derived from or
influenced by Greek
schools.9
Yet, Qoheleth's literary method is still looked upon
as a
"most
serious defect."10 Assuming the accuracy of this assessment,
Jastrow seeks to recover the true and original
words of a purely
secular
Qoheleth by stripping away additions and corrections
of later
pious
redactors who sought to reclaim the book.11 In this manner he
essays
to isolate the interpretation of pious commentators and the
maxims
which were added to counterbalance the objectionable char-
acter of the book.12
Other critics represent the alleged
discontinuities of Qoheleth in
varying
manners. Siegfried divided the book among nine sources.13
Yet,
none of the scholars who attempt to reconstruct the words of
Qoheleth by isolating redactors' statements
demonstrate why the book
5Ibid., 33.
6Ibid., 54.
7Ibid.
8See Ibid.,
63-64 where
Philosophy, a designation in which the
speculations of several philosophers are
embodied.
9See, e.g., R.
B. Y. Scott, Qoheleth,
(AB; New York: Doubleday, 1965), p. 197.
10Morris Jastrow, A Gentle
Cynic (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1919) 124.
11Ibid., 197-242.
12Ibid., 245ff.
13See
the citation by George Barton, Ecclesiastes (ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark,
1971) 28.
24 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
should
have attracted such an effort on the part of pious interpolators
and
sages to legitimatize it. It could have been easily suppressed or
dismissed.
Gordis properly points out,
But that the book was subjected to thoroughgoing
elaboration in
order to make it fit into the Biblical Canon is
an assumption for
which no real analogy exists, indeed is
contradicted by the history
of the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha
after their composition.14
Recent critics recognize a basic unity in Qoheleth, abandon-
ing the assumption of widespread interpolation.
Yet, Qoheleth
continues
to be viewed negatively in its ethics and world and life
view.
Scott sees both heterodoxy balanced by "unimpeachable ortho-
doxy.”15
Yet, it is the divergence from the orthodox which is empha-
sized.
Scott states, "It denies some of the things on which the other
writers
lay the greatest stress-notably that God has revealed himself
and
his will to man, through his chosen nation."16 He adds further
that,
In place of a religion
of faith and hope and obedience, this writer
expresses a mood of
disillusionment and proffers a philosophy of
resignation. His ethic
has no relationship to divine commandments, for
there are none. It
arises rather from the necessity of caution and mod-
eration
before the inexplicable, on the acceptance of what is fated and
cannot be changed, and
finally on grasping firmly the only satisfaction
open to man-the
enjoyment of being alive. The author is a rationalist,
an agnostic, a
skeptic, a pessimist, and a fatalist (the terms are not used
pejoratively!).17
Even for Scott it was necessary for an orthodox
interpreter to
affix
the two closing verses (
of
the uncritical reader",18 and to assure Qoheleth
a place in the
canon.
The critics, with unified voice, decry Qoheleth's ethics and his
world
and life view as being opposed to that of the remainder of the
OT.
He is perceived as a maverick among the sages who propounded
incompatible
propositions.
QOHELETH
AS VINDICATED BY CONSERVATIVES
In response to liberal critical views, several
conservative scholars
have
attempted to vindicate the apparently negative view of life in
14Robert Gordis, Koheleth (New
York: Schocken, 1968) 71-72.
15Scott, Qoheleth, 191.
16Ibid.
17Ibid., 191-92.
18Ibid., 194.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 25
Qoheleth and have affirmed its rightful place in
the canon of Holy
Scripture.
Among evangelicals there is a general acknowledgment
that
Qoheleth is the composition of one individual.19
However, many
evangelicals
agree with liberal critical opinions concerning Qoheleth's
world
and life view.
The Jewish conservative scholar Gordis assumes a negative char-
acter about Qoheleth's
world and life view and seeks to alleviate some
of
the tension of his polarized expressions. He resolves the alleged
dilemma
of antithetical expressions in Qoheleth by accounting
for
many
of the “apparently pious sentiments” as quotations cited for the
purpose
discussion.20 For example, Gordis claims
that fdeOy (
used
by Qoheleth to introduce "a quotation of
conventional cast
which
he does not accept.”21 But the verb claimed to be introductory
appears
n the middle of the portion it is claimed to mark off as a
quotation.
Leupold, in laying out
introductory principles for the interpreta-
tion of Qoheleth, states
that the recurring phrase, “under the sun,”
indicates
that Qoheleth deliberately restricted his
observations and
explanations
of human events to a human perspective. By this Leupold
means
that Qoheleth, in his observations and reflections
upon life,
assumed
a position of complete neglect of revelation and the world to
come.
He spoke from the perspective that God had not revealed
Himself,
and, furthermore, that God is inaccessible.22 In actuality,
though,
Qoheleth was a “true man of God who is offering
invaluable
Counsel.”23
For Leupold, Qoheleth was a
rationalistic apologist who
sought
to lead his readers to true happiness by showing how miserable
life
is “under the sun,” that is to say “apart from God.” He attempted
to
direct men toward God by seeking to convince them rationalistically
of
their despair apart from God.
The New Scofield
Reference Bible extends Leupold's approach.
Ecclesiastes is the book of man "under the
sun" reasoning about life.
The philosophy it sets forth, which makes no
claim to revelation but
which inspiration records for our instruction,
represents the world-view
of the wisest man, who knew that there is a holy
God and that He will
bring everything into judgment.24
19This is true
even of those who reject Solomonic authorship. Some
have main-
tained
that Solomon was the original author, but that at a later time, before the
exile,
the book was edited and enriched (see Young,
Introduction to OT, 340-41).
20Gordis, Koheleth, 174.
21 Ibid ,283; cf.
287.
22Leupold,
Ecclesiastes, 28; cf. 42-43.
23Ibid., 30.
24C.I Scofield, ed., New Scofield
Reference Bible (
1967) 696. This interpretive approach virtually
abandons Qoheleth to the grasp of
26
GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Both Leupold and the
New Scofield Reference Bible have mis-
understood
Qoheleth's use of his phrase "under the
sun," He did not
employ
it to restrict his perspective to common ground with natural
man.
He was no mere philosopher who, working from a system of
“natural
theology,” sought to understand God's creation without the
interpretive
revelation of the Creator. The phrase “under the sun” is
not
a restriction upon the manner of Qoheleth's
reflections, but it
circumscribes
the sphere of those things which he observed in con-
trast to that sphere in which God's reign knows no
opposition. The
expression,
"under the sun," therefore, speaks of the earth upon which
man
dwells as does Qoheleth's phrase, “all that is done
under heaven”
(cf.
An older commentator, Moses Stuart, energetically
tried to vin-
dicate Qoheleth from charges
of impiety, However, he too accepts the
charge
that Qoheleth's book contains blatant contradictions
and
several
impious conclusions. Nevertheless, Stuart acquits the author
by
suggesting that those objectionable portions must be understood
in
the same way as the "objectors" who appear in the apostle Paul's
letters.25
Stuart characterizes the book as a replaying of the struggle
through
which Qoheleth's mind had passed when he set himself
on
liberal critics, for one wonders how such an
espousal of worldly wisdom could possibly
hold any valid claim to canonicity, This
approach agrees that Qoheleth hopelessly
contradicts himself, but such contradiction is
accounted for by a not-so-lucid device of
separating revelation from inspiration. See,
e.g., the note on
characterization of the dead: “This statement is
no more a divine revelation concerning
the state of the dead than any other conclusion
of the Preacher” (1:1), No one would
quote 9:2 as a divine revelation. These reasonings of man apart from revelation are set
down by inspiration just as the words of Satan
(Gen 3:4; Job 2:4-5; etc.) are recorded.
But that life and consciousness continue between
death and resurrection is directly
affirmed in Scripture…” (p. 702). Such an
approach vitiates the whole character of
Qoheleth's
book. If one isolates
argue that Qoheleth
did not believe in the conscious existence of the dead. But to assert
such a conclusion goes far beyond Qoheleth's intention. Qoheleth
does not concern
himself with the state of man after death. He
addresses the matter of death from the
vantage point of things done “under the sun,”
i.e., the realm of the living (see 9:3, 6, 9).
His purpose is to celebrate life, for as long as
man has breath he has influence and
activity in all “the things done under the sun”
(9:6). But once a man dies, he no longer
has anything to do with the activities of man
"under the sun" (
perspective that King Hezekiah held in his
prayer to the Lord who spared his life. “For
the grave [sheol]
cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down
to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness.
The living, the living-they praise you, as
I am doing today; fathers tell their children
about your faithfulness” (Isa 38: 18-19). In
the same way Qoheleth
only seeks to urge men to the full enjoyment of life now, “for it
is now that God favors what you do" (9:7),
for "anyone who is among the living has
hope” (9:4).
25Moses Stuart, A
Commentary on Ecclesiastes, ed. and rev. by D. C. Robbins
(Boston: Dreper and Halladay, 1880) 36-39.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH:
PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 27
the
course of philosophical inquiry. Along this course it does not
matter
that doubts and improper conclusions "had passed through
the
author's mind, for they had greatly perplexed and disturbed him.
The
passing through his mind does not stamp them with the authority
of
opinions settled, deliberate, and final.”26
Hengstenberg also succumbs to the
claim that Qoheleth wrote
several
contradictions and antithetical assertions in expressing his
ethics
and world and life view. However, Hengstenberg seeks
to vin-
dicate Qoheleth from the
charge of self-contradiction by means of a
different
approach. For him an understanding of the historical milieu
out
of which the book of Qoheleth arose is absolutely
necessary. He
states,
“This book is unintelligible except on the historical presuppose-
tion that the people of God was [sic] in a
very miserable condition at
the
time of its composition.”27 He claims that the book was composed
in
post-exilic days (contemporary with or slightly later than Malachi)28
when
the Persians held dominion over God's people. They were in a
most
miserable condition, slaves in their own land. Heathens ruled
over
them. Degradation, injustice, and misery ruled everywhere. The
glorious
splendor of Solomon's days had long passed and the Jews
were
now in a time of persecution.29
With this understanding of the times of Qoheleth, Hengstenberg
finds
it easy to take the various apparently contradictory or impious
expressions
and place them into the mouths of tyrannized impious
Jews.
Qoheleth only quotes them as reflecting the popular
sentiment
of
the times. So, Hengstenberg says, “Vanity of vanities
was the
universal
cry: alas! on what evil days have we fallen! They said to one
another,
'How is it that the former days were better than these?”
Ecclesiastes
vii. 10.”30
Hengstenberg's method of
interpretation is observed in his re-
marks
upon Qoh 9:5-7. Of Qoheleth's
words, "the dead know noth-
ing” (9:5), he says,
Such is the language of natural reason, to those
whose eye all seems
dark and gloomy that lies beyond the present
scene, because it fails in
this work to discern the traces of divine
retribution. The Spirit says on
the contrary: “the spirit returns to God who
gave it.”31
26Ibid., 39. He
states further, “It only shows what embarrassments the writer had
remove, what perplexities to contend with. The
question is not, whether this or that occupied
his mind, which he has recognized in his
writing, but whether this or that was adopted
by him, and made up a part of his settled and
ultimate opinion” (pp. 39-40).
27Hengstenberg, Ecclesiastes,
45.
28Ibid.,10-11.
29Ibid., 2-16.
30lbid., 45,
31lbid., 212.
28 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Hengstenberg then explains in his
comments on 9:7 that Qoheleth
had
spoken in vv 1-6 ''as the representative of the then prevailing
spirit
of the people," but in v 7 he takes up the cause of God “to
oppose
the popular views and feelings.”32
Hengstenberg, along with many
evangelicals, has followed many
liberal
scholars in dating the book late based upon internal evidence.
The
external evidence for Solomonic authorship has been
almost uni-
versally rejected by scholars.33 Along
with an appeal to its language,34
scholars
cite the condition of Qoheleth's times as an argument
against
Solomonic or early authorship.35 As
widely accepted as this argument
may
be, it seems to be begging the question. If, indeed, Qoheleth
must
be understood as post-exilic in order to interpret it and to make
it’s
meaning intelligible, then what continuing value does it have for
God's
people? Certainly, it can be argued that it is useful for “men in
hard
times and when under affliction; but Qoheleth's
perspective is
not
so restricted. He touches upon virtually every conceivable condi-
tion of life, and his verdict upon it all is the
same, whether prosperous
or
poor, wise or foolish, industrious or slothful, whether times are
good
or bad (cf.
view;
he set out to explore “all that is done under heaven” (
states
with sincerity and not exaggeration, “then I saw all that God
has
done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun” (
The nature of the book itself argues against Hengstenberg and
others
who would find internal historical evidence to place it dur-
ing the post-exilic Persian domain over
such
attempts. The book presents a world and life view which is
in
accord with the rest of Scripture. It does not occupy itself with
local
phenomena such as Hengstenberg claims. Quite to the
contrary,
it
depicts life which is universally
true throughout all of earth's his-
tory since the fall of man in the garden. The book
deals with things
which
are common among men everywhere without a necessary con-
nection to a particular historical milieu. An
element common to many
conservative
scholars is their assessment of Qoheleth's ethics and
world
and
life view. For them, Qoheleth was a man who, though
he feared
God,
looked upon the world around him from the vantage point of a
"reason"
that had little to do with his faith in the Creator. They see a
32Ibid.,213.
33See, e.g., the
arguments of Christian D. Ginsburg, Coheleth (
Longmans, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1861)
245ff.
34See Archer,
"Linguistic Evidence for the Date of 'Ecclesiastes,'" 167-81
for a technical defense of Solomonic
authorship.
35See Ginsburg, Coheleth, p. 249;
Stuart, Ecclesiastes, pp. 38-39.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH:
PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 29
dichotomy
between faith and reason.36 This view hinders the grasping
of
Qoheleth's true world and life view.
One final trend among some conservative scholars
must be
addressed.
This is the trend to differentiate between “appearance” and
“reality.”
One says of Qoheleth's world and life view, “There is
much
that
superficially viewed, has the appearance of disordered confusion.
But
that this is the real state of the case is here emphatically denied.”37
Again
concerning the theme of the book, it is asserted
The problem really discussed is the seeming
inequalities of divine
providence. These are reconciled with the
justice of God, as they are in
the book of Job reconciled with his mercy and
goodness.38
These comments fall into a dichotomous pattern
because they
refer
to Qoheleth’s observations of the world as things he
only judged
to
be “apparent.” Sierd Woudstra
clearly expressed this perspective:
“Koheleth is on the one hand dealing with life as he
observed it, while
on
the other hand he knew and was convinced by faith that things
were
different.”39
Shank astutely observes,
Woudstra here raises an
important issue in the interpretation of
Qoheleth. If there does exist a
distinction here, that distinction is not
between faith and reason, but between faith and
sight, i.e. between
“faith” (that comes from special revelation) and
that revelation pres-
ently available to any
natural man as he perceives the creation about
him… But, in what sense and to what degree is
such a “distinction”
relevant to Qoheleth?40
Qoheleth did not look upon the
world from the perspective of a
tabula rasa. Nor was his
observation of creation and “all that God
has
done” (
His
reflections upon this world and life are not the aimless ramblings
and
superficial remarks of one given to "sense-experience theology.”
36Cf. H. Carl
Shank, “Qoheleth's World and Life View As Seen in His
Recurring
Phrases,” WTJ 37 (1974) 61. Hengstenberg
(Ecclesiastes, 26) states, “The
problem a
before the writer is considered from the point
of view of Natural Theology with the aid
of experience, and of reason as purified by the
Spirit of God.”
37See the article
attributed to Greene, "The Scope and Plan of the Book of
Ecclesiastes,” Biblical Repertory and
38Ibid.. 423-34.
Cf. Walter Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes
(Chicago: Moody, 1979) 17.
39Sierd Woudstra, "Koheleth's
Reflection upon Life" (unpublished Th.M. thesis;
a dichotomy (p. 106). But see Woudstra's attempt to Christianize Qoheleth
(pp.91ff.,esp.
pp. 99-101).
40Shank, "Qoheleth's World and Life View," 61.
30 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Rather,
Qoheleth's whole approach was governed by
foundational
presuppositions:
his firm beliefs that God had revealed Himself
through
the biblical themes of creation, the fall of man, and the ensu-
ing history of redemption; and that God had cursed
man and the
earth
so pervasively that nothing was left untouched by evil.
Qoheleth lived among a people
who knew the Lord God and
his
relationship to the world through the special revelation of the
Torah.
Therefore, his knowledge of the world and of life was regu-
lated by his antecedent knowledge of God, the one
whom he feared.
This
being true, Qoheleth's "faith" and
"sight" were not two entirely
distinct
and independent modes of observation.
"Faith" and sight" do not oppose
one another in Qoheleth. His
“sight”41
(his perception of this world and life) is his "faith" put into
operation
to consider "all that God has done under the sun" from the
orientation
of his firm belief in the fall and the curse of man as
recorded
in Genesis 3. He looked upon the world and all of life from
the
vantage point of a genuine OT believer who well understood not
only
the reality of the curse of God placed upon life "under the sun,"
but
also its pervasive effect upon everything "under heaven." It is just
such
a world and life that Qoheleth depicts in vivid
terms.
QOHELETH REVISITED
Thus far it has been the burden of this paper to
suggest that it is
the
assumed antithetical character and presumed contradictions which
have
hindered correct interpretation of Qoheleth. Many
commentators
suggest
that more than one mind was operative in the composition
of
the book. Even some evangelicals portray Qoheleth as
a combina-
tion of at least two divergent philosophies or
perspectives: natural
reason
devoid of special revelation and orthodox affirmations of faith
(though
they be few). It is the thesis of this article that Qoheleth's
enigmatic
character cannot be resolved by following either of these
two
conventional lines of interpretation. The enigmatic character and
polarized
structure of the book is not a defective quality reflecting
opposing
and contradictory philosophies. On the contrary, the book's
antithetical
character is a deliberate literary device set in Hebrew
thought
patterns designed to reflect the paradoxical and anomalous
nature
of the world which Qoheleth observed. The difficulty
of inter-
preting this book and of understanding its
message is proportionally
related
to one's own readiness to acknowledge the true nature of this
world-a
world in bondage to the tyranny of the curse placed by God
41Cf. Ibid.,
68-70, where Shank astutely discusses Qoheleth's
phraseology, "I
perceived."
CANEDAY: QOHELETH:
PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 31
upon
all creation (cf. Rom 8:20ff.). If one fails to recognize this foun-
dational presupposition of Qoheleth,
then he will fail to comprehend
the
message of the book.
Qoheleth's
Arrangement
Many scholars have contended that Qoheleth has no cohesive
plan
or design. Long ago Delitzsch stated:
A gradual development, a progressive
demonstration, is wanting, and
so far the grouping together of parts is not
fully carried out; the con-
nection n of the thoughts is
more frequently determined by that which is
external and accidental, and not infrequently an
incongruous element
is introduced into the connected course of
kindred matters . . . . All
attempts to show, in the whole, not only oneness
of spirit, but also a
genetic progress, an all-embracing plan, and an
organic connection,
have hitherto failed, and must fail.42
Hengstenberg follows suit:
A connected and orderly argument, an elaborate
arrangement of parts,
is as little to be looked for here as in the
special portion of the Book of
Proverbs which begins with chapter X., or as in
the alphabetical Psalms.43
Surely such assertions are extreme) for even a
cursory reading of
Qoheleth should convince anyone that its
character is quite differ-
ent from the book of Proverbs.44 With
the book of Proverbs one can
select
at random a single verse or two and observe a complete unity
of
thought in them that may not have any real connection with what
precedes
or follows. Yet this does not hinder interpretation of its
meaning.
However, Qoheleth is not at all so 'characterized.
“It is
useless
to take a text and ask 'What does that mean?' unless we have
in
our minds some scheme for the whole book into which that text
42Franz Delitzsch, Commentary
on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, trans.
M. G. Easton (reprint in Biblical Commentary on
the Old Testament, by C. F. Keil and
Franz Delitzsch;
43Hengstenberg, Ecclesiastes, 15. He continues to say,
"Such matters of plan
and connection have been thrust into the book by
interpreters who were incapable of
passing out of 'I heir own circle of ideas, as
by degrees became evident from the fact
that not one of these arrangements gained
anything like general recognition, but that
on the contrary each remained the sole property
of its originator and of his slavish followers."
Concerning the theme of the book, he writes,
"It is quite misleading to represent the work
as occupied with a single narrow theme… A
superficial glance at its contents will amply
show that they are of far too rich and varied a
nature to be comprehended under one
single theme" (p. 16).
44See Stuart, Ecclesiastes, 28ff.
32 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
must
fit.”45 The book of Proverbs may be read at several sittings,
disconnected
and randomly without disrupting one's understanding
of
its isolated parts. However, Qoheleth is like the
book of Job;
it
must be read with great attentiveness given to its design and
scope,
for apart from the context of the complete book, any isolated
portion
will be wrongly interpreted. It is precisely because this prin-
ciple has not been observed that so many
contradictory interpreta-
tions have been spawned. When detached from the
overall design of
the
book, anyone of Qoheleth's refrains or expressions
may be given
extremely
negative interpretations. So it is that his recurring phrase,
"Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly
meaningless! Everything is mean-
ingless" has been dealt
with as the exasperated outburst of a cynical
pessimist.
Qoheleth's repeated, "A man can do nothing
better than to
eat
and drink and find satisfaction in his work" has been segregated
from
his theme and corrupted to become the slogan of the indulgent
Epicurean
sensualist, "Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow
we
die!"46 "So I hated life, because the work that is done
under the
sun
was grievous to me" (
Examples
of "decontextualized" misinterpretations of
Qoheleth could
be
multiplied many times. But these serve to illustrate how his words
in
various portions have been isolated from one another so that when
they
are retrieved and placed back together, one is left only with a
mutilated
Qoheleth. With such a method, no two pieces fit
together.
Is
it any wonder that critics and conservatives alike hear so many
strange
and contradictory voices in Qoheleth?
However, the solution to determining Qoheleth's arrangement
and
design is not to go to the other extreme. One states,
There is clear and
consistent plan in the book of Ecclesiastes...one in
fact of the most
strictly logical and methodical kind. Not only is the
argument well conducted,
conclusive and complete, but its various
points are so admirably
disposed, its divisions so regular, and its differ-
ent parts so conformed in
structure as to give evidence that the whole
was carefully considered
and well digested before it was put together .47
One
must keep in mind that these are the words of one who wrote at
a
time prior to the present resurgence of interest in Hebrew studies,
which
has brought with it a heightened sensitivity to the many pecu-
liarities of the language and its literature.
Recent studies of Qoheleth
45Cf. J.
gelical
Essays on Old Testament Interpretation, ed. by Walter
Kaiser, Jr. (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 1973) 136.
46See F. C.
Thompson, ed., The New Chain-Reference Bible, 4th ed.(
B. B. Kirkbridge,
1964) 199 in the section “A Complete System of Biblical Studies."
47[Greene].
"The Scope and Plan of Ecclesiastes," 427.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 33
have
shown a much greater appreciation for the qualities of Hebrew
literature
and its thought patterns which find their matrix in the Near
Eastern
and not the Western mind.48
Nevertheless, the
structure of Qoheleth remains elusive. Once its
scheme
is traced out, it must still be acknowledged that the progres-
sion of its argument is not readily detectable. In
many respects the
book
defies the Western mind that looks for clear breaks in thought
around
which it may be outlined. Like I John, its contours are fluid.
Its boundaries are obscure. It is
characterized by reiteration and
recurring
phrases. It is cyclical as it traverses a course around its sub-
ject. As the apostle John treated the life, which is
in union with Christ,
he
chose a spiral course for considering the manifold character of
fellowship
in the life of Christ.49 The subject is of such magnitude that
a
glance at it from one perspective will not suffice. So it is with
Qoheleth. His subject, too, is immense. A single
gaze upon the world
and
upon life from a remote vantage point could never do justice to
its
multiform character.
Altllough Qoheleth's
arrangement is difficult to determine, cer-
tain structural devices do come to light. Setting
aside the book's title
(1:1),
eplgram (1:2; 12:8), and the epilogue (12:9-14), one
finds that
Qoheletl1
begins and ends with a poem. The first poem is on the
endless
round of events in which man forever comes up short in his
laborious
toil (1:3-11). The book ends with another poem in which
Qoheleth calls upon men to enjoy life while they
yet have breath, for
if
death does not cut one off in mid-life, old age will deteriorate one's
satisfaction
with life and still death will finally wrench the spirit from
the
body (11:7-12:7). It is these two poems
which set the tone and
direction
of Qoheleth's reflections upon life. Focusing upon
the in-
scrutability of divine providence, Qoheleth guides his readers to
acknowledge
the meaninglessness of events under the sun. He directs
the
reader's focus away from an attempt to understand providence
and
toward enjoyment of life as the gift from God. "Enjoyment of
life,
not a search for meaning, should be man's guiding principle.50
There is much to commend Addison Wright's view
of the struc-
ture of Qoheleth which he
suggests in his provocative study.51 He tries
48See J. A.
Loader, Polar Structures in the Book of Qohelet (
de Gruyter, 1979).
49Cf. Donald
Burdick, The Epistle of John (Chicago:
Moody, 1970) 14-15; Robert
Law, The
Tests of Life (reprint;
50Robert
CBQ
38 11976) 12-18. See also his study in The
Christian at Play (
Eerdmans,
1983) 95-102.
51Addison G.
Wright, "The Riddle of the Sphinx: The Structure of the Book of
Qoheleth,”
CBQ 30 (1968) 313-34.
34
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THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
to
demonstrate that there is a break between 6:9 and
half
of the book (
is
vanity and a chase after wind." The cessation of this phrase at 6:9
signals
a major break in the book.52 The lines following this (
form
a transition to a different verbal pattern which is carried out
throughout
the remainder of the book. These verses introduce two
themes
which are developed in what follows: (1) what is good for
man
during his lifetime? and (2) who can tell man what will come
after
him?53 Wright points out that chapters 7 and 8 are structured
around
the first of these themes. It is developed in four sections with
each marked by the verb xcAmA.54 The
second motif expressed in
developed
in 9:1-11:6. The end of each unit is marked with the verb
fdayA or the noun tfaDa.55 Though
one may not agree with all the details
of
Wright's analysis, there are grammatical indicators which suggest
his
general divisions.
The structural development of the book can be
summarized as
follows.
The title (1:1) and the poem (1:3-11) set the tone and direc-
tion of Qoheleth's
reflections by focusing upon the fruitlessness of
man's
toil in contrast to the incessant endurance of the earth. The
first
major section (
chase
after wind." The second half of the book (after the transition of
"man
does not know what will come after him" (9:1-11 :6). The poem
on
youth and old age (11:7-12:8) and the epilogue (12:9-14) conclude
Qoheleth's considerations. 56 However, this structural pattern does not
deny
that there is an overlapping of themes between sections. For
example,
the inability of man to comprehend life's meaning and his
failure
to see what will happen after he is gone first appears in
and
gation of life and 7:1-11:6 (after the transition of
conclusions,
there is an intermingling of both in each portion. It is
this
fact that prohibits any rigid outline of the book.
Qoheleth Interpreted: The
Prologue
Qoheleth knew the great expanse
of the subject he was about to
undertake,
so he prepared his plan of investigation accordingly. He
says,
"I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is
done under heaven" (
ing of life and his examination of the character of
this world were not
52Ibid., 322-23.
53Ibid., 322.
54Ibid., 323.
55Ibid., 324.
56Ibid., 325.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 35
restricted
to provincial peculiarities, nor was his reflection narrowly
conceived.
He deliberately opened up his observation to the whole
world
and to events common among men universally. This he did in
accordance
with wisdom,57 a wisdom guided by preestablished
beliefs
which
show themselves throughout his discourse.
Qoheleth bursts upon his reader
with his concise and vigorous
exclamatilion: "'Meaningless!
Meaningless!' says the Preacher, 'Utterly
meaningless!
Everything is meaningless'"(1:2). The intensity of the
expression
could hardly be exceeded. With such brilliance the book
commences.
Now when the preacher gives prominence to words
of such
strength
and to an expression so captivating, one would suppose that
there
would be little need to look further for the theme which the
book
seeks to develop and to prove. However, it has not so impressed
some
scholars. Hengstenberg claims,
It is quite misleading to represent the work as
occupied with a single
narrow theme. . . .A superficial glance at its
contents will amply show
that they are of far too rich and varied a
nature to be comprehended
under one such single theme.58
But
Qoheleth puts his arresting expression concerning
meaninglessness
in
the position that a book of this nature would normally place its
theme. Furthermore, the phrase, "everything is
meaningless" (with its
variations),59
is the most dominant and pervasive of all Qoheleth's
recurring
phrases in the book. Also, as the book opens, so it closes
with
an exclamation of meaninglessness (see 12:8). Therefore, it seems
advisable
to adopt 1:2 as the theme which Qoheleth seeks to
prove
throughout
the entirety of the book.
Phrases with the word lbh appear no less than 30
times. Of this
class
of phrases, Woudstra well states the main exegetical
question,
"Is
Koheleth only saying that man's accomplishments under
the
sun
are transitory in character, are devoid of any permanence, or
he
saying that human existence and everything that goes with it
futile
and meaningless?60 This latter sense of lbh is rejected by
Leupold as "a pessimistic meaning...that is
not warranted by facts”61
He
Qoheleth. He avows that the word can only refer in Qoheleth to
57Cf. Stuart's
discussion of "wisdom" (Ecclesiastes, 50ff.) where he points out
that,
for Qoheleth, the
contrast between wisdom and folly is not equivalent to the Proverbs'
use where wisdom is piety and folly is
wickedness. In Qoheleth, wisdom bears the sense
of sagacity and folly, the lack of it.
58Hengtenberg,
Ecclesiastes, 16.
59Cf.l: 14;2:1,
11, 15, 17, 19,21,23,26;3:19;4:4,7,8, 16;5:7, 10;6:2,4,9, 11,
12, 7:6, 15;10, 14; 9:9; 11:8, 10; 12:8.
60Woudstra,
"Koheleth's Reflection upon Life," 38.
61Leupold, Ecclesiastes, 41.
36
GRACE THEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
"that
which is fleeting and transitory, and also suggests the partial
futility
of human efforts.”62 On the other hand, Woudstra
defends the
latter
sense of lbh and denies that it
implies pessimism.63
One should not be too hasty to translate lbh with a single word
as
do most translations.64 The word lbh, meaning "vapor"
or "breath,"
is
employed figuratively of anything that is "evanescent, unsubstantial,
worthless,
vanity.65 The particular sense of the word must be derived
from
its usage in any particular context. It is employed as a designa-
tion for false gods (Deut 32:21; 1 Kgs
exasperated
sentiments of individuals.66 Job complains about the
brevity
and uncertainty of his life; it is an exasperation to him
(Job
Qoheleth:
You have made my days a mere handbreadth, the
span of my years is
nothing before you. Each man's life is but a
breath. Man is a mere
phantom as he goes to and fro; He bustles about,
but only in vain; he
heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.68
The majority of the uses of lbh in the OT appear in Qoheleth,
yet
even here the word is more flexible than most translations would
suggest.
There are four general categories into which Qoheleth's
use
of
lbh can be placed. First,
there are passages in which the word
expresses
"meaninglessness" in the most general sense. Among these,
1:2
and 12:8 are the most prominent, for they summarize the whole
book
in compressed form. Other passages in this category are 2:1, 26;
his
vexations arising from the laboriousness of his work and his
inability
to control the disposition of his possessions when he departs
from
the earth (
sion is used of Qoheleth's
frustration over the delay of retribution.
Retribution,
adequate, appropriate, and final does not take place in
the
present world. The connection between wickedness and condemna-
tion, righteousness and deliverance is not direct
and obvious but
shrouded
and often turned upside down (
Finally,
lbh is employed by Qoheleth to vent his deepest vexation
62Ibid. Italics added.
63Woudstra, "Koheleth's
Reflection upon Life," 38.
64KJV, "vanity"; NASB, "vanity"; NIV,
"meaninglessness."
65BDB,210-11.
66Por example, Isa
49:4. The servant
have
spent my strength for nothing [UhTo] and vanity [lb,h,]."
67Cf. Job
68NIV, Qoh 5:16-17.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 37
with
this present world-his lament over the brevity of life and the
severity
of death (3: 19;
portrayal
of death). The quality of life is "empty" and "vacuous" and
its
quantity is entirely "transitory" and "fleeting.69 How appropriate,
then,
is lbh with its many nuances
to express the nature of this world
and
life in it!
Shank sums up well Qoheleth's
employment of lbh:
Different "aspects" of the idea of
vanity are employed by Qoheleth to
vividly illustrate the reality of the curse of
God placed upon the work
of man after the Fall (cf. Gen. 3:17-19).
Therefore, an attempt to find
a "static" meaning to hebel in Ecclesiastes...fails to take note of the
richness of the concept as used by Qoheleth.70
Indeed, Qoheleth does
announce his theme in 1:2. It is not
narrowly
conceived nor is it too singular. The theme of evanescence,
unsubstantiality, meaninglessness,
vanity is carefully carried through
the
whole book as a weaver threads his theme color throughout his
fabric.
It is sufficiently broad in its formulation, for it accurately
summarizes
the full contents of Qoheleth (if one does not
restrict the
word
lbh to a rigid or static
meaning).
What the Preacher states
with pithy conciseness in 1:2, he restates
in
further summary form before he begins the body of his work. This
he
does in 1:3-11 in the form of a compendium. The opening poem
serves
as an abstract which compresses the essence of the book into a
brief
introduction.
The Preacher first asks, "What does man
gain from all his
labor
at which he toils under the sun?" (1:3). Qoheleth
clearly indi-
cates by his question the inquiry that led to his
announced verdict
of
evanescence and meaninglessness (1:2). The query expresses in
typical
Hebrew concreteness the quest for the meaning and purpose
of
life in this present world. This often escapes the occidental mind
in
which points the question in more abstract terms. Qoheleth's
fondness
for
the book of Genesis71 throughout his work influenced how he
framed
his question. As scholars have observed, wisdom literature in
the
OT is "within the framework of a theology of creation.”72 Thus,
one
can understand why Qoheleth structured his inquiry
based upon
man's
divinely appointed occupation within creation (cf. Gen 2:5, 15)
69Cf. Victor Hamilton,
"hebel" in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,
vol.1, ed.by R, Laird
Harris, Gleason L.Archer, Bruce K.Waltke
(
1980)
204-5.
70 Shank:, "Qoheleth's
World and Life View," 66.
71See Charles C. Forman, "Koheleth's Use of Genesis," JSS 5 (1960) 256-63.
72Walter Zimmerli,
"The Place and Limit of the Wisdom in the Framework of
the Old Testament Theology," SJT 17 (1964) 148.
38
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
rather
than ask abstractly, "What is the meaning of life?" His interest
is
not economical but truly philosophical; it does not concern pecu-
niary profits but life's purpose and meaning.
Qoheleth states his conclusion
(1:2); then he asks the question to
which
his conclusion is the answer (1:3). He then turns to prove his
conclusion
about this world and man's part in it by means of the
poem
in 1:4-11. This introductory poem serves as a compendium in
which
the message of the book is summarized. Qoheleth seeks
to
establish
his conclusion of 1:2 by rehearsing the inflexible cyclical
nature
of the world and its enduring character in contrast to transi-
tory and evanescent man. He declares,
"Generations come and gener-
ations go, but the earth remains forever" (1:4).
The earth, methodically
plodding
along in its routine course, does not skip a beat of its
rhythm
to celebrate a man's. birth nor to mourn his death.
This rhythmic uniformity of seasons and events
forms the con-
text
within which man dwells. It provides stability so that much of his
life
becomes routine; there are not shocking surprises everyday. Man
can
depend upon the recurrence of the daily appearance of the sun.
As
it sets in the westerly sky in the evening, so it shall rise in the east
the
next morning (1:5). Man has come to recognize the course of the
wind
which brings warmth or cold. It, too, is cyclical. Daily the winds
change
their direction bringing a variety of weather conditions (1:6).
Man
does not need to fear that the seas will swallow up the land, for
though
the rivers and streams all flow into the ocean, the sea does not
overrun
its boundaries. The waters dissipate and return as rain upon
the
land to keep the rivers flowing to the sea (1:7).
Times and seasons are a blessing to man, for God
promised a
regularity
and uniformity upon which man could depend. "As long as
the
earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and
winter,
day and night will never cease" (Gen
blessing
which gives man some measure of predictability about life
becomes
wearisome to him. Uniformity and repetition breeds monot-
ony in this cursed world. Regularity has an eroding
effect; it wears
man
down. So it is that Qoheleth declares, "All
things are wearisome,
more
than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, or the ear
its
fill of hearing" (1:8).
Man comes to expect the recurrence of events.
Even in man's
brief
existence upon the earth, he comes to learn that even those few
things
that may occur only once in his lifetime are not new (1:9). The
joy
of discovery is dampened by earth's stubborn uniformity. As one
excitedly
exclaims, "Look! This is something new," the excitement
quickly
fades with the realization that, "It was here before our
time"(
Uniformity; regularity; methodical, orderly
recurrence; cyclical,
rhythmic
routine; these are all descriptive of the world which Qoheleth
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 39
observed.
But there is an intruder which interrupts man's part in the
profound
cycle of events. It is the culprit which transforms the beauty
of
uniformity into a monotonous machine which mercilessly carries
the
sons of Adam through the corridors of time into oblivion (
It
is the curse which has put a blight upon everything. Nothing has
escaped
its clutching grasp. Surely, God's providential directing of the
affairs
of :his world is carried out with uniform precision and beauty, I
yet
the curse hides the full character of the one who governs the
universe.
Such is the broad, sweeping picture that Qoheleth portrays in his
compendium
(1 :3-11). The stage, with its backdrop and props, obsti-
nately endures as earth's systems methodically press
on with no
apparent
direction, for everything about it repeats itself. Much to the
grief
of the actors, they themselves have no such permanence. "Genera-
tions come and generations go, but the earth remains.forever" (1:4).
To
add insult to injury, even the product of their work falters with
them
(1:3), so they become forgotten men (
which
stirs Qoheleth with vexation to announce with
startling bold-
ness,
"'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Preacher, 'Utterly mean-
ingless! Everything is meaningless'" (1:2).
It is Qoheleth's
prologue which sets the theme, the tone and the
movement
of the whole book with its incessant repetition. The book
takes
on the shape of the world as it imitates the cadence of creation
by
the use of its many recurring phrases and themes. Not only has
Qohelettl captured with words the pointlessness of
man's life of labor
in
a world which outlasts him, uninterrupted by man's coming and
going,
but he also leads his reader to sense the incessant rhythm of
the
world by his own calculated refrains. It is precisely this recurrent
character
of Qoheleth with its polarized structure which should
aid
the
reader to a proper interpretation of the book. Rather, it has
become
the chief point of criticism and dispute.
Qoheleth Interpreted: The
Recurring Themes
As Qoheleth develops
his world and life view it is imperative to
observe
his pattern. He sets before the reader motifs and themes, all
calculated
to support his verdict announced in 1:2. Qoheleth's argu-
ment will be considered under four headings: 1)
polarity of themes,
2)
theology of creation, 3) elusiveness of meaning, and 4) celebra-
tion of life.
Polarity
of Themes
The antithetical character of Qoheleth is not to be resolved by
positing contradictory thought patterns within
Qoheleth himself, nor
40
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THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
by
appealing to the voices of presumed editors, redactors, and glos-
sators as the liberal critics do. Rather the polarity
of structure and
expression
found in the book reproduces the character of this world.
As
the world which Qoheleth observed is characterized by
its cease-
less
recurrent cycles and paradoxes of birth and death, war and peace,
and
the like (cf. 3:1-8), giving it an enigmatic quality, so Qoheleth
reproduces
its pattern in literary form, repeatedly turning back upon
himself
to reiterate and restate themes and observations upon various
subjects
which support his verdict.73 This he does by casting his work
into
a polarized structural form as illustrated by 3:1-9.74 Just as there
is
no place "under the sun" to find a tranquil resting place devoid of
life's
vexations where the movement of this world ceases to erode the
strength
and vitality of man, so Qoheleth's composition does
not
permit
its readers to settle their minds with contentment upon a par-
ticular portion of his book. There is always
tension as various obser-
vations and reflections upon life are juxtaposed
in polarity. He hates
life
(
life
(9:4ff.) hold prominency in Qoheleth's
polarized expressions. On
the
one hand he can say, "The day of death is better than the day
of
birth" (7:1) and on the other "a live dog is better off than a
dead
lion" (9:4). Illustrative of this polarized character of Qoheleth,
7:
16, 17 stand out: "Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise-
why
destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be
a
fool-why
die before your time?" It is these paradoxical observations
and
expressions which characterize the book and cause such great
difficulty
for so many exegetes. The tension cast by Qoheleth's obser-
vations and reflections is unrelenting.
Qoheleth involves the whole
reader in an incessant movement of
thought
as he carefully weaves his various strands of thread into a
multiform
fabric, fully reflecting this world and life in it. His literary
image
reflects the harsh realities of this present world as he places
side
by side contradictory elements to portray the twisted, disjointed
and
disfigured form of this world (see
not
exempted from the tension. His emotional and mental involve-
ment in the contradictions of this world create a
complexity of
thought,
motives and desires. Qoheleth was a man torn by the
pres-
ence of evil and vexed by the ravages of injustice,
oppression and
death.
He compels his reader to confront this diverse nature of this
paradoxical
world in which evil has supplanted the good. In this
73See Shank,
"Qoheleth's World and Life View," 57-73 for
an excellent study of
Qoheleth's
recurring phrases.
74Cf. Loader, Polar Structures in the Book of Qohelet, 29ff.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 41
world
wickedness drives out justice (
ity (4:1ff.). Everything is marked by twisting and
incompleteness
(I:
15). In the place of sweet labor (which was man's original allot-
ment), the sweat of the brow embitters one's work
with the brine of
wearisome
and laborious toil which is fruitless (cf. Gen
Qoh 2:11, 17f., etc.).
The world which Qoheleth
observed is cursed; it is disjointed; it
is
upside down. Death and decay dominate. The appointment of
every
man has become the grave. As a man is born, so he must die
(3:1). He comes into a world naked and leaves
stripped of all the
of
profits from his labors (
dered by one who has not worked for it (
hands
of a stranger by some misfortune (6:1-2). But the greatest evil
of
all is the fact that death is no respecter of persons (9:3). It comes
upon
men so haphazardly, often leaving the wicked to live long in
their
wickedness (
In this paradoxical world no man knows what
shall befall him-
whether
love or hate (9:1), good or evil (
(11:6).
An adequate and appropriate retribution is absent from this
present
world. The connection between wickedness and condemnation,
righteousness
and reward is hidden and apparently non-existent (cf.
ized expressions have caused his readers to become
most disconcerted
and
unsettled. For on the one hand he complains that wickedness has
driven
out justice in the place where one would expect to find equity
(
confidence
that "God will bring to judgment both the righteous and
the
wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every
deed"
quickly
executed (
final
day will bring justice where it is now absent (
immediately
Qoheleth turns the reader back to view the paradox
that
vexes
him most: "There is something else meaningless that occurs on
earth:
righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked
men
who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say is meaning-
less
(
Herein lies the chief source of Qoheleth's dilemma; divine provi-
dence in this present world disproportionately
distributes deserts-the
this
wicked prosper and the righteous flounder (cf. Job 21:4-33; Ps 73:4-
12;
Jer 12:1-4). The almighty God who rules this world
hides himself
behind
a frowning providence. It seldom appears that the benevolent
God
who created the universe has control of his own creation. It
rarely
seems that a rational and moral being gives motion to the
world.
Even the beauty of uniformity plagues man's thoughts about
42
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God.
Uniformity becomes motonony in the present cursed
world, for
it
is precisely upon the basis of the world's disjointed regularity that
men
scoff at God and his promises (see Mal
7).
The present world order becomes the occasion for wicked men to
jeer
God and for righteous men to vex their souls that divine justice is
so
long delayed. It is precisely this character of the world which gives
rise
for the need of patient endurance on the part of the righteous as
they
await the fulfillment of God's promises of justice and deliverance
(cf.
2 Pet 3:8-13, 15).
Theology
of Creation
The Preacher's occasion and purpose for writing
his book is
found
in his opening question: "What does man gain from all his labor
at
which he toils under the sun?" (1:3). He asks this question re-
peatedly (
question
for setting the theme of Qoheleth which is broad in
its discus-
sions and investigations. It has been stated earlier
that Qoheleth's
interests
were not merely to investigate the measure of profits gained
from
labor, but the inquiry expresses tangibly man's quest to know
the
meaning and purpose of life. The entire book of Qoheleth
is a
reflection
upon life in this world in order to search out its meaning.
The
theme question found in 1:3 is conceived in terms of man's
original
divine mandate to work in paradise and to subdue the earth
by
ruling over it as king (Gen 2:5, 15;
a
significant place in the formulation of Qoheleth's
thoughts. He
acknowledges,
as does the Genesis account, that man was made from
the
dust of the ground and will return to it (Qoh 12:7;
9:9;
cf. Gen
God-given
limitations (Qoh 8:7;
sovereign
over all (Qoh 3:10-13; cf. Gen 1:28-30; 3:5). ..
Genesis
exhibit substantial agreement as to the central focus of the
creation
motif-that life is to be celebrated as a 'good' creation of
God.”75
But the problem that exists for Qoheleth is the
intrusion of
sin
and God's curse upon all creation and, in particular, upon man.
When
God created man, his design was that man till the soil as an
extension
of God's hand to carryon the work which God had made
(Gen
2:4-7). Man's purpose, then, was to work upon the earth, an
earth
which yielded readily to the hands of Adam to produce only
75
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 43
those
things which "were pleasing to the eye and good for food" (cf.
Gen
2:9). But the curse of God came upon man and his environment
because
of Adam's rebellion. It changed the scene drastically so that
no
longer would man's work be pleasureable. Instead it
is character-
ized by laboriousness and pain and yields a meagerly
disproportion-
ate
return for the energy expended (Gen
grow
where once beautiful and luscious produce sprang forth. Man
was
made to eke out a living under adverse conditions. His whole life
became
involved with this effort. Thus, the real question of the mean-
ing of life is the query Qoheleth
asks: "What does man gain from all
his
labor at which he toils under the sun?" What does man have left
when
all his painful and wearisome toil is complete? What goal is
there"
for a life which is so consumed with such endless and exhaust-
ing drudgery? If there is meaning to life, where is
it concealed?
It is Qoheleth's
orientation to the Scriptural account of creation
which
forms his presuppositional basis for a world and life
view. He
recognized
a great disparity between his world and that which came
directly
from the creative hand of God; the curse had intruded to
disrupt
the harmony of creation. The evil that Qoheleth
observed
"under
the sun" was not inherent in nor of the essence of creation,
but
was externally imposed. The curse of Gen 3: 17ff. becomes in
Qoheleth's language disjointedness and
discontinuity or kinks and
gaps
which are irrevocable (
God
(
bondage
and decay (cf. Rom
bewilder!
men. The world has been turned upside down, so that it
bears
little resemblance to the pristine paradise that it once was. For
Qoheleth. then, the world was neither what it
once was nor what it
will
be therefore he designed his book, not to "wrest some form of
order
from chaos”76 or to master life, but to bring men to acknowl-
edge
that this world and life in it is marked by aimlessness, enigma,
and
tyranny. Qoheleth upholds the creational design to
celebrate life
as
a divine gift which is to be enjoyed as good, something to be cher-
ished reverently and something in which man delights
continually. 77
This,
per haps, is the greatest enigma in Qoheleth--his
bold assertion
of
the meaninglessness of life "under the sun" and his resolute affirma-
tion that life is to be celebrated joyfully. The
fact that he unequivocably
maintained
both is not proof that Qoheleth was a double-minded
man-secular
and religious. He was not a pessimist who saw nothing
better
than to indulge the flesh. He was a godly sage who could
affirm
both the aimlessness of life "under the sun" and the enjoyment
76G. van Rad, Old
Testament Theology, vol. 1, trans. D. M. G. Stalker (New
44
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of
life precisely because he believed in the God who cursed his crea-
tion on account of man's rebellion, but who was in
the process,
throughout
earth's history, of redeeming man and creation, liberating
them
from the bondage to decay to which they had been subjected
(cf.
Rom 8:19-21). Because Qoheleth was a man of faith, he held this
perspective,
for it was through his faith in the God who revealed him-
self
that Qoheleth knew what the world once was and what
it will be
again.
It was because of this orientation that so many enigmatic and
antithetical
considerations and observations are held in proper ten-
sion within his mind and within his book.
Elusiveness
of Meaning
The identification of 1:3 as the theme question,
the question of
life's
meaning, is confirmed by the book itself. In 3:9-11 Qoheleth
reveals
the breadth of the question. It was no mere economic question
about
one's wealth, but it was a philosophical inquiry about life's
meaning
and purpose. After a poetically structured recitation of the
divine
appointment of affairs which touch every man in this cursed
world
(3: 1-8), Qoheleth breaks forth with his thematic question,
"What
does the worker gain from his toil?" (3:9). The relentless tide
of
events described by Qoheleth is reminiscent of the cosmological
cycle
earlier recited (1:4-11). It is precisely to such unalterable and
rhythmic
recurrence of events "under the sun" that the Preacher
affixes
his question of meaning (1:3 before the poem in 1:4-11; 3:9
after
the poem in 3: 1-8). Man is part of the cyclical flux of time and
circumstance
"under the sun." He both inflicts adversity and suffering
upon
others and is victimized by the incessant recurrence of events.
Man
struggles for life and meaning in an environment that taunts him
with
its paradoxes: birth and death, weeping and laughter, love and
hate,
war and peace, and the like. Such a relentless and inflexible
cycle
of events extends beyond the grasp of man's control and under-
standing.
Qoheleth never suggests that a man should resign
himself
passively and put forth no
"effort to avert the times and the circum-
stances.78
Yet, his purpose is not to aid his reader to search for order
so
as to master life.79 Von Rad is misguiding
when he offers the fol-
lowing
wisdom literature's intention: "There was surely only one goal,
to
wrest from the chaos of events some kind of order in which man
was
not continually at the mercy of the incalculable.80
77 Cf.
78 See the
improper conclusion of Louis Goldberg, Ecclesiastes
(Grand
Rapids:Zondervan,
1983) 64.
79 Cf.
80 G. von Rad, Wisdom in Israel,
trans. J. D. Martin (New York: Abingdon, 1972) 316.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 45
Though Qoheleth surely
is not a passive victim of the cruelties
of
the endless rounds of this life, neither does his focus become the
task
of mastering life, straining to "wrest some form of order from
chaos.”81
Rather, his entire concentration is on how one directs his
life
through the labyrinth of this meaningless life; it is guidance and
counsel
to his readers to enjoy life in spite of the inscrutable and
enigmatic
world in which they live.
On the one hand, precisely where one might
expect pessimistic
resignation
from Qoheleth, the notion is resisted. On the other hand,
he
does not counsel his readers to search for order in an attempt to
manipulate
life. It is his burden to show from his consideration of
life's
limits and enigmas the futility of man's attempt to understand
the
whole of life and thus to master it. He counsels his readers to
replace
false and illusory hopes of understanding providence (thereby
manipulating
life) with a well-established, joyful confidence that crea-
tion is God's gift.82
One may be puzzled about the connection between
the question
of
3:9 and the statement of
inquiry
of 3:9 is not economic but the basic question of life's mean-
ing, the connection is clear. If every event in
this cursed world has its
appointed
time (depending not upon human influence but upon the
determination
and providence of God), "what does the worker gain
from
his toil" (3:9)? What purpose and meaning does life hold? In
response
to his inquiry, Qoheleth says, "I have seen the burden God
has
laid on men" (
refers
it back to the moil and toil of v 9 “to which men subject them-
selves
in that they desire, and yet are unable to effect anything,
because
everything comes to pass as it has been fixed and predeter-
mined
by God.”84 However, the
inquiry of v 9 is not so restricted but
is
a philosophic question relative to the basic meaning and purpose of
life.
It does not merely have in view moil and toil. Rather, it encom-
passes
the whole of life's activity in a cursed world where labor and
life
is subjected to drudgingly irksome and fruitless efforts. Thus, the
burden spoken of in v 10 is
not to be identified as simply the moil and
toil
in which men are occupied.
The quest in v 9 is linked with v 11 through v
10. The burden
(vyAn;fihA) is comprised of this: "He has made
everything beautiful in its
time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot
fathom
what God has done from beginning to end" (
the
fact that God has made everything beautiful in its time, Qoheleth
81 von Rad, Old Testament Theology, vol. 1,421.
82
83 See Kaiser, Ecclesiastes,
53-54 concerning the singular MdAxAhA
yneb;li.
84 Hellgstenberg, Ecclesiastes, 104.
46
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uses
hp,yA
as a
synonym for bOF. Yet, the beauty can
hardly be that
goodness
which the Lord God observed in the work of his hands at
the
beginning (cf. Gen
age
and decay had not yet come. But after the fall, God's creation was
pervasively
marred by the curse as is seen in the paradoxes of human
affairs
listed by Qoheleth (3:1-8). The beauty of which the Preacher
speaks
consists in this, that what occurs among men comes to pass at
its
appointed time as a constituent portion of the whole of God's
work
among men.85
Not only has God ordered the affairs of all
creation beautifully,
he
also has put MlAfohA-tx, in the hearts of men (MBAliB;). The suffix in
MBAliB; refers to the MdAxAHA in v 10. How is MlAfohA to be understood? Some
older
commentators attempted to translate the word in the sense of
the
Arabic ‘lam as 'knowledge' or
'understanding.’86 With this inter-
pretation, rw,xE
lyiB;mi is translated "without which," so
that the sense
of
the text is: "He has also set knowledge in the hearts of men,
without
which
they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning
to
end.”87
This exegetical course is rejected by most
commentators.88 Appar-
ently Luther took MlAfohA-tx, to mean "the
world," "the desire after the
knowledge
of the world," or "worldly mindedness.”89 However, it
seems
best to follow the lead of Delitzsch and others who
take MlAfohA
as
"eternity.”90
The "eternity" which God has put into
the hearts of men is a
certain
inquisitiveness and yearning after purpose. It is a compulsive
drive,
a deep-seated desire to appreciate order and beauty, arising
because
man is made in the image of God. It is an impulse to press
beyond
the limits which the present world circumscribes about man
in
order to escape the bondage which holds him in the incessant cycle
of
the seasons and in order to console his anxious mind with meaning
and
purpose.91 It is man's desperate attempt to make sense out of
what
seems senseless and meaningless. Yet, MlAfohA must not be restricted
to
this, but also must include a residual knowledge of God's eternal
power
and divine nature which God has placed in every man (cf.
85 Cf. Delitzsch, Ecclesiastes, 259.
86 Cf. Stuart, Ecclesiastes,
174-75. But see Delitzsch's response to this, Eccle-
siastes,
260.
87 Stuart's
strained conclusions on
See Stuart, Ecclesiastes, 173-74 and 308.
88 See Delitzsch, Ecclesiastes, 260.
89 Attributed to
Luther by Delitzsch, Ecclesiastes, 260.
90 Ibid.,261.
91 Ibid.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 47
Rom
there
is purpose and meaning (though it entirely eludes him).
This compulsive desire to appreciate the beauty,
symmetry and
order
of creation shows itself differently at various levels. Aesthetically
man
seeks to appreciate creation's beauty as he imitates his creator by
fashioning
beauty with his own hands. Philosophically man pursues
knowledge
of the universe to know its character, composition and
meaning. Theologically man seeks to discern
creation's purpose and
destiny.
Since man has this craving for meaning, a deep-seated in-
quisitiveness and capacity to learn
how everything in this world fits
together,
he seeks to integrate his experience into a meaningful whole.
He
yearns to connect the various pieces of his experience to see each
portion
in the context of the whole of his life. He desperately desires
to
have a meaningful understanding of the world and of life to give
him
direction and mastery. He is like Qoheleth who sought to add
"one
thing to another to discover the scheme of things" (
Herein then is the task or burden which God has
laid upon the
sons
of Adam: the search for meaning in a disjointed and topsy-turvy
world.
It is not a burden because man is a creature who has only
limited
and derived knowledge. It is a heavy and frustrating burden
because
man's quest for meaning is now performed in a cursed world
wherein
inexplicable paradox dominates-there is birth and death,
hate
as well as love, and more war than peace fills the earth. It is this
kind
of world, uniform yet twisted and marked by gaps, which
Qoheleth explored and declared to be meaningless.
In spite of the fact that God has "made
everything beautiful in its
time"
(an orderly arrangement even of chaos), and despite the cer-
tainty that "He also has set eternity in the
hearts of men," Qoheleth
declares,
“yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning
to
end" (3:11c). This incapacity of man is emphasized repeatedly by
Qoheleth to establish the meaninglessness which
he announced at the
beginning
as his theme. The inability to discover God's purposes and
design
from events and experiences is an essential thread which
Qoheleth weaves into the fabric of his work. The
elusiveness of mean-
ing becomes the dominant motif in
he
"cannot discover anything about his future" (
God
has made both good and evil to befall men quite haphazardly. Is
proof
needed for the inscrutable ways of God? Qoheleth declares, "In
this
meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous
man
perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in
his
wickedness" (
92 Otto Zockler, Ecclesiastes, trans. William Wells, in vol.
5, Commentary
on the Scripture,
ed. by J. P. Lange (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1960) 67.
48
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JOURNAL
world,
both caused by God, come upon men with disparity and
inequity,
for "righteous men get what the wicked deserve and the
wicked
get what the righteous deserve" (
to
men the secrets of the purposes which move his actions (cf.
Deut
29:29).
Man's limitation and fractional knowledge, as he
seeks to "add
one
thing to another to discover the scheme of things" (cf.
emphasized
in 8:7-8a: "Since no man knows the future, who can tell
him
what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it;
so
no one has power over the day of his death." The disproportionate
allotment
of God's providence ruins men's illusory hopes of master-
ing life and discovering the divine meaning and
purpose for life's
experiences
and events. "There is something else meaningless that
occurs
on earth: righteous men get what the wicked deserve and
wicked
men get what the righteous deserve" (
lenge Qoheleth? He is right! The incongruities and
paradoxes that
baffled
Qoheleth bewilder every man. It is this disharmony
and
absurdity
that compelled Qoheleth to impart to his readers a realistic
perspective:93
When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to
observe man's labor
on earth-his eyes not seeing sleep day or
night-then I saw all that
God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on
under the sun.
Despite all his efforts to search it out, man
cannot discover its mean-
ing. Even if a wise man
claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend
it [
Celebration
of Life
It is precisely in the contexts where Qoheleth
magnifies and
emphasizes
man's bewilderment that so many scholars have failed to
understand
Qoheleth. His candid and realistic confessions followed
by
counsel have brought severe criticism. On the one hand, he is
accused
of pessimism for his acknowledgement of the elusiveness of
meaning
and, on the other hand, he is said to be orthodox because of
his
counsel to sane living (see
viewed
as grossly defective. Delitzsch asserts, "If Koheleth had known
of
a future life . . . he would have reached a better ultimatum.”94
Delitzsch is referring to
I know that there is nothing better for men than
to be happy and do
good while they live. That every man may eat and
drink, and find
93 Cf.
9:1-3,11-12.
94 Delitzsch, Ecclesiastes, 262. In contrast to the
negative interpretation by Delitzsch,
see R. N. Whybray,
"Qoheleth, Preacher of Joy," JSOT
23 (1982) 87-98.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 49
satisfaction in all his toil-this is the gift of
God. I know that every-
thing God does will endure forever; nothing can
be added to it and
nothing taken from it. God does it, so men will
revere him.
Now wherein lies the shortcoming of Qoheleth's
counsel? He
urges
men to do good (bOF) and to be glad (HaOmW;li). The enjoyment to
be
derived from life is coordinate with obedience to divine command-
ments.95
This is how men are to conduct themselves as long as they
are
living (vyy.AHaB;). Furthermore, that
which a man may eat or drink or
find
satisfying in his toil is confessed as "the gift of God." Above all,
Qoheleth acknowledges that what God does, though
it may be per-
plexing to man, he does "so men will fear
him" (
Qoheleth
be more orthodox? Is not this the counsel of one who
considers
the eternal, the future existence of man? If Qoheleth did not
believe
in the resurrection, why would he counsel men to behave
obediently,
fearing God? What is there to fear, if it is not God's
judgment
of resurrected men?
Qoheleth's world and life view was not fashioned
according to a
natural
theology restricted to the affairs of men "under the sun." If
that
were the case, he would have counseled his readers to revelry,
for
he saw in this world that it is the wicked who live long (
do,
nearly to his own destruction (cf. Ps 73:3-17). If Qoheleth had no
belief
in final retribution--the demise of the wicked and the reward-
ing of the righteous-- his counsel would have been,
"Let us eat and
drink,
for tomorrow we die" (see I Cor
which
he is often accused. Qoheleth does not yield to pessimism and
despair,
nor to an ascetic withdrawal, nor to an anasthetic
desensitized
denial
of evil. Instead, from the recognition that what the righteous
and
wicked receive is inverse to their deserts (
to
his holy counsel: "So I commend the enjoyment of life, because
nothing
is better for man under the sun than to eat and drink and be
glad.
Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life
God
has given him under the sun" (
Qoheleth 's perspective upon the incongruities
of this life is the
same
as Job's who said of the wicked: "Their prosperity is not in
their
own hands, so I stand aloof from the counsel of the wicked"
(Job
Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes
and still lives a
long time, I know that it will go better with
God-fearing men, who
are reverent before God. Yet because the wicked
do not fear God,
95 See Delitzsch, Ecclesiastes, 262 concerning a discussion
of Qoheleth's use of bOF
in 3:12.
50
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JOURNAL
it will not go well with them, and their days
will not lengthen like a
shadow [
Qoheleth formed his world and life view with
divine creation and
divine
retribution in mind. This creator-retributor perspective gives
Qoheleth equilibrium and stability to dwell in a
world subjected to
the
curse of God. The creation motif serves as the source of Qoheleth's
counsel
to celebrate life with joy, for it is a good creation of God. The
eschatological
judgment motif is behind his caution to behave obe-
diently in view of the divine retribution which
will reward the righ-
teous and condemn the wicked. This counsel is
gracefully harmonized
by
Qoheleth in his admonition to the young man:
Be happy young man, while you are young, and let
your heart give you
joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways
of your heart and
whatever your eyes see, but know that for all
these things God will
bring you to judgment. So then, banish anxiety
from your heart and
cast off the troubles of your body, for youth
and vigor are meaning-
less [11:9-10].
The joy and freedom of following one's desires
is not to be
dampened
by knowledge of coming judgment but only controlled.
This
is not counsel to indulgent and indecent conduct but to freedom
and
joyful celebration of God's good gift of life, tempered by the
knowledge
that the God who created life also holds men accountable
to
revere him. The free pursuit of the heart's desires and whatever the
eyes
see is to be done within the moral boundaries of God's com-
mandments (see
brate life, unshackled from a search for the meaning
of life.
Qoheleth
Interpreted: The Epilogue
Upon concluding his graphic poem on aging and
death, Qoheleth
closes
the body of his book with the theme with which he began:
"'Meaningless!
Meaningless!' says the Preacher. 'Everything is mean-
ingless!'" (12:8; cf. 1:2). But the verdict
is not the final word that
Qoheleth
has for his readers. Instead, he leaves them with a closing
word
of counsel on how to behave in a world that is aimless and
(meaningless
as the result of the Creator's curse upon it. That counsel
is
not in the least out of character with the theme of the book. He
concludes,
"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the
matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole
96 See Michael
Eaton, Ecclesiastes (Tyndale Old Testament
Commentaries;
who presume an interpolated contradiction in
these verses.
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 51
duty
of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including
every
hidden thing whether it is good or evil" (
Qoheleth, throughout his book, had repeatedly
raised the motif
of
eschatological judgment to motivate obedient behavior despite the
fact
that rotters advance in prosperity and live long in
this world
while
the righteous flounder in their struggles and succumb early to
the
curse of death (cf.
judgment
serves as a chief orientation to which Qoheleth directs his
readers
to steer them through the labyrinths of this meaningless life.
The
fear of God who shall judge men is to temper and regulate man's
ethical
actions and decisions throughout his sojourning here. And so
it
is appropriate that Qoheleth sums up the duty of man: "Fear God
and
keep his commandments" (
three
times).
Fearing God is motivated by the fact that
"God will bring every
deed
into judgment." These two great themes, fearing God and an
appointed
time for divine judgment, serve as integral elements in the
development
of Qoheleth's world and life view. They were not mere
addendas to a series of unconnected discursive
sayings and affirma-
tions. Rather,
the conclusion serves as the knot which secures the
ethical
threads carefully woven into the fabric of the work. Qoheleth
asserts
this to be the case, for he says, "Now all has been heard; here
is
the conclusion of the matter" (12:13a).
Consistent with his counsel throughout the book,
Qoheleth does
not
permit his reader to despair even though "everything is meaning-
less."
He counsels men to fear God and to obey him because there is a
time
for judgment when they will give account of their conduct and
secrets,
whether they be good or evil. These last words can hardly be
taken
in a crippling manner. Qoheleth did not design his words
concerning
the all-searching eye of God (v 14) to inhibit human
enjoyment
and behavior nor to cast his readers into introspective
questioning
of motives. Rather, knowledge of divine judgment should
regulate one's conduct with a prospective
gaze of expectation toward
the
day when justice shall eradicate all inequity, when divine mercy
shall
purge out all oppression, when the righteous shall flourish as the
wicked
are cut off (cf.
Qoheleth's
World and Life View Summarized
As Qoheleth made his thorough investigation (
done
under heaven, he was governed by basic presuppositional
beliefs
which
use expressed throughout his work. These presuppositions
largely
arise out of his knowledge of God's revelation of himself in
Genesis
1-11. Foundational to his philosophical pursuit of meaning
is
his firm recognition that the world with all its systems, and man in
52
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particular
as actor, operate under the curse of God. This he expresses
in
terms of things twisted and things lacking (
of
evil is not to be attributed to the essence of creation but as a foreign
element
imposed upon it, for "Who can straighten what he [God] has
made
crooked?" (
this
curse, but "God made mankind upright, but men have gone in
search
of many schemes" (
for
the inequity, the tyranny, the oppression, the disparity of provi-
dence, and especially for the presence of death and
its haphazard
encroachment
without respect to men's characters (cf. 9: 1-3).
This basic presuppositional
belief that the world is not what it
was
originally nor what it will be finally governs Qoheleth's ethical
world
and life view. This is due to the fact that the transformation of
the
world is not accomplished by some evolutionary process inherent
within
creation itself, but by the God who created the universe and
also
subjected it to its present frustration under the curse and who
will
finally liberate it (cf. Rom
For Qoheleth, then, there is a second and much
more ultimate
presupposition
which regulates all his observations of this evil world
and
his wise counsel on how to live in it. The entire book rests solidly
upon
the assumption that the Lord God of
Governor
of all things. He is the Creator who set all things into
motion
(12:1; 11:5). He is the Sovereign who governs all that he has
created.
He does not merely permit or allow the present suffering and
evil
in the world. Qoheleth acknowledges that it is God who causes
both
the good and the bad to befall men irrespective of their char-
acters (
give
him the enjoyment of it, an evil which is vexing to men (6:1-2).
Though
it is God who gives both the good and the evil, he is not to be
charged
with doing evil; he is only to be feared precisely because of
all
that he does among men (
God is also perceived by Qoheleth as Incomprehensible
Wisdom,
for
the creator/creature distinction, aggravated by the curse, hides
God
behind a frowning providence which hinders man from discover-
ing life's meaning in this cursed world (
Man's
knowledge of what God does as he observes the world is frac-
tional and frustrated by the perplexing paradoxes. It
is precisely this
fact,
namely, that almighty God has hidden his full character behind
a
disparate providence, that necessitates his special revelation.97
97 Shank ("Qoheleth's World and Life View," 68) astutely states,
"We must main-
tain,
contrary to the majority of critical and conservative commentators, that Qoheleth's
perception . . .refers to a knowledge which is a
'reflex-action' of his fear of God and
which penetrates to the essence of the meaning
of what this world of vanity is all
about. . . .That perception also includes a
deep, spiritual insight into the affects of the
curse of God upon life and labor 'under the
sun.'"
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 53
The antithetical quality of Qoheleth must be
understood within
this
framework. The proposal of liberal critics that the oscillations of
thought
and expression are to be attributed either to a dialogue
between
two or more speakers or the result of glossators and redactors
must
be rejected.98 Furthermore, the proposed solution of many
conservative
scholars also must be laid aside. The suggestion that
Qoheleth s book is indicative of a man who wavers
between secular
and
religious perspectives, oscillating to and fro, filled with doubts
and
perplexities, yet finally arising above them, has no true corre-
spondence to the nature of Qoheleth. Even the attempt
to resolve
the
paradoxical nature of the book by suggesting that the evils and
inequities,
of which the Preacher complains, are only an "apparent
anomaly”99
must be disallowed.
The paradoxical expressions and antithetical
observations of
God's
disparate providence do not find their explanation from some
internal
struggle in Qoheleth between faith and reason. Nor are they
resolved
by postulating that they are the result of a dichotomy between
sacred
and secular perspectives. Rather, Qoheleth reflects the real
world
in its present state which is in conflict with the way it once was
and
the way it will be again. It is the curse, causing the twisting and
incompleteness
(
which
confronts man. Qoheleth hides no evil nor does he seek to deny
it
as merely apparent. He confronts the reality of evil and seeks to
bring
his readers to do the same. Yet, on the other hand, Qoheleth
maintains
an unwavering belief in the God who created and who will
judge
all men. For after all is said and done, it is God who has
arranged
the world as it is so that men will fear him (
Qoheleth does not shrink from
acknowledging that it is God
who
has made both the good times and the bad (
never
resorts to a fatalism which encourages either pious passivity or
Epicurean
indulgence. He takes the pathway of wisdom. The fact that
God
has inscrutably arranged this world under the perplexity and
frustration
of the curse, caused Qoheleth to declare, "Therefore, a
man
cannot discover anything about his future" (7:14b). Man is not
to
busy himself with the inscrutable. He is not to become occupied
with
trying to determine which course it is that is divinely chosen for
him.
Qoheleth makes it clear that it
is futile to seek to determine from
the
course of providential events whether or not divine approval rests
upon
one's amoral decisions, however great or small they may be.
98 Cf. Eaton, Ecclesiastes,
37-39.
99 See [Greene],
"The Scope and Plan of Ecclesiastes," 424. This view is too
much
dominated by presuming that the final retribution cuts its line now with
vividness. See also ibid. 424-25. Cf. Kaiser, Ecclesiastes,
17.
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Searching
divine providence to determine one's course of action is not
piety,
but folly which leads to inactivity and failure. For "whoever
watches
the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not
reap"
(11:4). The mystery of providence is unfathomable and in-
scrutable (11:5). "No one can comprehend what
goes on under the
sun.
Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its
meaning.
Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really com-
prehend it" (
for
it presumes that God's providence bears a direct and invariable
correspondence
to the events among men. Such misguided efforts
cause
men to turn upon God in bitterness or berate themselves when
evil
days befall them, thinking that suffering is always caused by par-
ticular sins.
Qoheleth counsels against "providence
reading, "for those who
follow
such a course fail to succeed at anything (11:4). Instead, since
no
man can know which endeavors will prove fruitful, the proper
approach
to life is to give oneself to the responsibilities at hand with
freedom and diligence,
and to await the course of events to determine
one's
success (11:6). All the days a man is given ought to be enjoyed
(11:8),
for "it is now that God favors what you do" (9:7b). Life is a
divine
gift to be enjoyed to its maximum as long as there is breath in
the
nostrils, for "even a live dog is better off than a dead lion" (9:4).
Life
is an endowment to be presently celebrated in the presence of the
Creator
(12:1). The enjoyment of life is to be the dominant motif of
one's
existence upon this earth, not the mercenary fixation of a miserly
workman
who hoards his earnings to satisfy his soul when he retires
from
his labors. The days of trouble come too quickly and unpre-
dictably upon men eroding their pleasure and
enjoyment (12:1-2).
This
perspective upon life is not sensual; it is realistic. It is governed
by
the fact that this world is cursed, and the ultimate curse is death
(9:1,3).
Death is not something to be desired as a release from the
prison
of the body (as in Neoplatonism), for it wrenches man
away
from
the environment in which he was designed to dwell (cf. Ps 115:16-
17).
Death is no friend but an enemy which violently tears a man
apart,
severing the spirit from the body (12:7). This is the perspective
that
the whole Bible takes upon death (cf. Isa 38:10-20; 2
Cor 5:1-5).
For Qoheleth, then, two opposing realities serve
to motivate his
expressions
in 9:5-10: (1) the curse of death comes to every man, and
(2)
the gift of life is man's to be enjoyed to its fullest "all the days of
this
meaningless life that God has given you under the sun" (9:9). His
whole
description of the dead in 9:5-6 is defined carefully by him—
"never
again will they have a part in anything that happens under the
sun
" (9:6b). His interest is not to describe theologically the state
of
the
dead (as Jehovah's Witnesses might contend), but he portrays the
CANEDAY: QOHELETH: PESSIMIST OR SAGE? 55
dead
in relation to this world; they have nothing more to do with
it.
It is for this reason that Qoheleth so often reiterates his celebration
of
life:
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your
wine with a joyful
heart, for it is now that God favors what you
do. Always be clothed in
white, and always anoint your head with oil.
Enjoy life with your wife,
whom you love, all the days of this meaningless
life that God has given
you under the sun--all your meaningless days.
For this is your lot in
life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.
Whatever your hand
finds to do, do it with all your might, for in
the grave, where you are
going, there is neither working nor planting nor
knowledge nor
dom [9:7-10].
CONCLUSION
Qoheleth was no enigmatic pessimist. He
was not a man who
recorded
the battle of tormenting and conflicting thoughts that raged
inside
his own mind as he oscillated between orthodox piety and
indulgent
secularism. Qoheleth was a godly sage. He was a righteous
man
regulated by his knowledge of and devout fear of the God of
was
capable of giving expression to such paradoxical and anomalous
matters
without denying the presence of evil in this world or without
destroying
his belief in God. Qoheleth records a godly man's reflec-
tions upon a cursed world subjected by God to vanity
and frustration.
It
is the character of such a world which accounts for the polarized
expression)
and paradoxical observations in his book. It is precisely
what
one scholar dogmatically denied: "That the author of Ecclesiastes
intended
that the contrarities of his book should . . .reflect
and image
forth
the chequered web of man's earthly condition, hopes
alternating
with
fears, joys succeeded by sorrows, life contrasting with death."100
What Paul asserts in a few words in Rom 8:19-21,
Qoheleth
investigates
at length. Where Paul spoke generally, the Preacher
descended
to uncover the particulars. Though Paul had the privilege
of
knowing that Christ will restore all things and even now, in
principle,
has begun to do so (cf. 1 Cor
Qoheleth share one biblical assessment of the
character of this world
and
of life in it since the fall. It is cursed! It is disjointed! It is upside
down!
It is in bondage to decay! It. is meaningless! It needs to be
liberated!
What Qoheleth saw
obscurely in the coming day of final retribu-
tion, the apostle Paul makes clear: "creation
itself will be liberated
100 Tyler, Ecclesiastes, 54.
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from
its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of
the
children of God" (Rom
God's
people that creation awaits, for then will it be set free from
what
is now twisted and lacking (Qoh
This material
is cited with gracious permission from:
Grace
Theological Seminary
www.grace.edu
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at:
thildebrandt@gordon.edu