Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 33:1 (Apr 2022)
Article: Coherence In Ecclesiastes 3:16–22
Author: Kimmo Huovila

Conspectus 33:1 (April 2022) p. 42

Coherence In Ecclesiastes 3:16–22

Kimmo Huovila

and

Dan Lioy

South African Theological Seminary [Huovila]

The Institute of Lutheran Theology; SATS [Lioy]

About The Authors

Dr. Kimmo Huovila holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament from the South African Theological Seminary and a master’s degree from the University of Helsinki, majoring in general linguistics and minoring in classical Greek language and literature and Semitic languages and cultures. He has also completed studies in mathematics, pedagogy, and computer science at the University of Helsinki.

Prof. Dan Lioy (Ph.D., North-West University) holds several faculty appointments. He is a senior research academic at the South African Theological Seminary; a professor of biblical theology at the Institute of Lutheran Theology (in South Dakota); and a dissertation advisor in the semiotics, church, and culture DMIN program at Portland Seminary (part of George Fox University in Oregon). His areas of specialization include OT and NT Exegesis, OT and NT Theology, OT and NT Hermeneutics, Hebrew, and Greek.

[email protected]; [email protected].

This article: https://www.sats.ac.za/coherence-in-ecclesiastes

Abstract

Ecclesiastes 3:16–22 has been interpreted as an incoherent text or as having unresolved tension. This article seeks to explain the flow of thought in the text. Various exegetical options are evaluated in light of the text and the theology of the book. To trace the flow of thought, different views on the coherence of the text are surveyed and evaluated on the basis of the exegesis. This article argues that the text can be understood as a coherent whole discussing two reactions to observing a corrupt court. One is an affirmation of an afterlife judgment and the other is an expression of human limitations. The concept of human limitations is offered as an argument to renounce futile pursuit of permanent profit in this life and to pursue joy as a gift given by God.

Keywords

Ecclesiastes, coherence, judgment, afterlife, joy

1. Introduction

And again I saw under the sun a place of judgment and there was wickedness there, a place of justice and there was wickedness there! I thought that God would judge the just and the wicked as there is a time for every matter and for every deed there. I thought that this is on account of human beings that God would expose them and show them that they are [just as] quadrupeds by themselves. The lot of the human and the lot of the quadruped is the same l...