The Vitality of Enjoyment in Qohelet's Theological Rhetoric

This study explores the interplay between the commendation of enjoyment and the injunction to fear God in Ecclesiastes. Previous studies have tended to examine these seemingly antithetical themes in isolation from one another. Seeing enjoyment and fear to be positively correlated, however, enables a fresh articulation of the book's theology. Enjoyment of life lies at the heart of Qohelet's vision of piety, which may be characterized as faithful realism, calling for an authentic engagement with both the tragic and joyous dimensions of human existence.

Winner of the 2007 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise

Autorentext

Ph.D. dissertation under the supervision of Prof. Choon Leong Seow, Princeton, N.J. Eunny P. Lee is now Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, N.J./USA.

Zusammenfassung

The series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (BZAW) covers all areas of research into the Old Testament, focusing on the Hebrew Bible, its early and later forms in Ancient Judaism, as well as its branching into many neighboring cultures of the Ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.

BZAW welcomes submissions that make an original and significant contribution to the field; demonstrate sophisticatedengagement with the relevant secondary literature; and are written in readable, logical, and engaging prose.

Inhalt

1. Integrity of the Book: Broad Framework · Catchwords and Linking Devices · Genre, Rhetoric, and Subversion · Hebel and Integrity

2. The Vitality of Enjoyment: In the Hand of God (2:24-26) · The Human Portion (3:12-13, 22) · The Divine-and Human-Answer (5:17-19) · The Paradox of Joy (7:14) · By the Sweat of One's Brow (8:15) · To Life! (9:7-10) · Farewell to Joy (11:7-12:7)

3. The Fear of God: The Dialogics of Piety: The Inscrutable Work of God (3:14) · In the Presence of the Wholly Other (5:6) · A Morality of Both (7:18) · To Believe or Not to Believe (8:12b-13) · The End of the Matter (12:13b)

Conclusion: Qohelet's Theology of Enjoyment: The Normativity of Enjoyment · The Social Dimension of Enjoyment · Enjoyment and Double Agency