To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: b-hebrew digest: April 20, 1999
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 12:41:02 -0700
Jim wrote, "As in so many things, I have my own perceptions of this as
well. I have always seen Qoh as a rather intentionally ironic book.
Beginning with the presupposition that God is not really interested in
the daily affairs of life, the author composes a book which absents
God... such a life is, ironically, hebel, empty, void, pointless. Now
to be sure the author does not believe that God is absent. Rather he
paints the picture of life without God purely in order to show how empty
such a life is."
Jim,
You're not the only one with this view. This seems to me the only view
that gives a satisfactory answer for all the apparent contradictions
throughout the book. It's been a while since I did my research on
Qoheleth, but if I remember correctly, Murphy also supports this view as
well as Garrett and from the previous Century MacDonald.