Ecclesiastes Through the Centuries
- Oxford Blackwell Publishing 2007
- 314p
- Blackwell Bible Commentaries; 200700ENGGPS5 .
includes index and biblioraphy
Testimonia The Vagaries of Interpreting Ecclesiastes Charting a Harsh Terrain Qoheleth the Philosopher Wrought by Melancholy Preacher of Joy True to Life Qoheleth and Christianity Qoheleth and Justice 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 Profit and Relief from hebe/: 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