Ecclesiastes Through the Centuries Wiley Blackwell Bible Commentaries Series

?A rich tour down many significant streams of Western interpretation of this fascinating biblical book? Heartily recommended, without reservation.?
Bible and Critical Theory

?A fundamental resource on biblical interpretation, especially in the modern world, this book is a winner.?
International Review of Biblical Studies

?The introduction and commentary proper cover many topics, from patristic and rabbinic exegesis through to modern science-fiction, with numerous stops on the way? Very well written and accessible?an excellent book.?
Society for Old Testament Study Book List

Over the centuries, Ecclesiastes has influenced numerous aspects of life and thought. Ecclesiastes Through the Centuries assesses the diverse effects of the book on culture in religion, art, and social contexts.

Ecclesiastes shaped the life of European abbeys of the middle ages. For Renaissance thinkers, it provided a sceptical line of inquiry weighted with the disquieting authority of Scripture. It has inspired the imaginations of artists, musicians, and poets from the Renaissance to the present day. The influence of Ecclesiastes on literature has engaged authors as diverse as Bacon, Donne, Eliot, Hardy, Melville, and numerous Elizabethan poets. This commentary traces these influences as well as the fascinating range of Jewish and Christian readings. The result is an informative and broad-ranging approach to the impact of this book through the centuries that will engage all those studying the Bible.

For further information about the Blackwell Bible Commentaries please visit www.bbibcomm.net.

Preface xiii

Preface to the Paperback Edition xvii

Testimonia 1

The Vagaries of Interpreting Ecclesiastes 1

Charting a Harsh Terrain 4

Qoheleth the Philosopher 5

Wrought by Melancholy 7

Preacher of Joy 9

True to Life 10

Qoheleth and Christianity 14

Qoheleth and Justice 15

Introduction 17

1 A History of Reception Histories 19

2 Reading Strategies and Lines of Influence 22

Pre-Modern Reading: –1500 23

Early Modern Reading: 1500–1800 40

A. Renaissance and Reform 40

B. Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Verse 51

C. On the Way to Modernity 57

Modern Reading: 1800– 65

A. Literature 65

B. Visual Art, Music and Film 75

C. Comparative Studies 84

Ecclesiastes 1 87

The Life and Death of Solomon the Author: 1:1 et passim 89

A. Alive and Well in Pre-Modernity (–1500) 89

B. Embattled in Early Modernity (1500–1800) 95

C. Dead in Modernity – Solomon’s Ghost (1800–) 96

Vanitas Vanitatum: 1:2 et passim 98

A. Despising the World through Vanitas (–1500) 100

B. Renaissance Vanitas: Despising Jerome and Suspecting the Sciences (1500–1800) 106

C. Literary Vanitas: New Points of Reference (1800–) 125

D. The Breadth of Vanitas 140

The Overture Played Out: 1:3–18 142

Ecclesiastes 2 156

Wrestling with the Test of Pleasure: 2:1–10 157

Understanding Wisdom, Folly and God’s Gifts: 2:11–24 161

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 164

The Totality of Times 165

Ecclesiastes 3:9–6:12 174

On Fate, Knowledge and Anthropology: 3:9–22 175

On Oppression and the Value of Companionship: 4:1–12 180

On Conducting Oneself in the House of God: 5:1–8 183

On the Possibility of Profi t and Relief from hebel: 5:10–6:12 184

Ecclesiastes 7–8 188

The Curious Values of Wisdom: 7:1–12 189

The Incongruity of Experience and the Inaccessibility of Wisdom: 7:13–29 192

About Wisdom, Power and Authority: 8:1–17 201

Ecclesiastes 9:1–12 206

The Wisdom of Death and Life 207

Ecclesiastes 9:13–11:10 216

Wise Conduct in the Light of Uncertainty: 9:13–11:6 217

The Final Call to Joy: 11:7–10 221

Ecclesiastes 12:1–7 225

The Rule of Allegory 227

Beyond Allegory 232

Ecclesiastes 12:8–14 247

The Final Word 249

A Hermeneutical Postscript 256

Understanding the Pervasive Appeal of Qoheleth 256

The Exegetical ‘Fidelity’ of Ecclesiastes’ Reception History 259

How Might This Reception History Inform the Discipline? 261

Bibliography 264

Primary Sources 265

1. Pre-1500 265

2. 1500–1800 267

3. Post-1800 271

Reception Histories of Ecclesiastes 275

1. Jewish and Christian 275

2. Surveys of Academic Approaches 280

3. Literature 281

Specialist Comparative Studies 283

Ecclesiastes General Secondary Sources 285

Other Secondary Sources 291

Appendix – The Quotable Qoheleth: Ecclesiastes in Popular Discourse 296

List of Illustrations 300

Acknowledgements 302

Name Index 303

Subject Index 312

Eric S. Christianson is an independent scholar living in the UK. He is author of A Time to Tell: Narrative Strategies in Ecclesiastes (1988) and co-editor of Cinéma Divinité: Religion, Theology and the Bible in Film (2005), The Lure of the Dark Side: Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture (2009) and Holy Terror: Understanding Religion and Violence in Popular Culture (2010).