Biblical Hebrew Forum

[bhebrew AT shields-online.net]

Karl,

The most obvious "clue" is the absence of an explicit identification by the 
speaker who instead adopts the title "Qohelet." Why not use the name Solomon? 
It is used in other literature purported to be by Solomon. The other problem 
is, of course, that such clues as you demand can be quite subtle and easily 
"lost in translation" (by which I mean lost in the expanse of time between 
the text's composition and our reception of it).

Martin Shields,
Sydney, Australia.

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On 17/09/2009, at 3:33 PM, K Randolph wrote:

Now we come to Qohelet: what literary clues are there that tell us that a
late author has taken on the persona of Solomon for rhetorical reasons? I
know of none. So far you have produced none. Therefore my conclusion that
this is either a late forgery where the author has taken on the persona of
Solomon in order to give his document a patina of respectability that it
does not deserve, or it is a genuine document from the pen of Solomon.