Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 71:1 (NA 2020)
Article: A Wise Man Reflecting On Wisdom Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes
Author: Katharine J. Dell

TynBull 71:1 (2020) p. 137

A Wise Man Reflecting On Wisdom
Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes1

Katharine J. Dell

([email protected])

Summary

This paper looks at Qoheleth’s ambivalent attitude towards wisdom and being wise. At times wisdom is his presupposition, his strength, and his benchmark for judging everything; at other times he sees its limitations and relativity in the light of divine unpredictability and human death. This is not contradictory; rather, Qoheleth weighs up proverbs and provides an interpretation of them, fulfilling the description of him in 12:9. Whilst some see the Epilogist as critical of the wise, using Qoheleth’s own words to discredit the wisdom movement, I maintain that this is not the case; rather, the Epilogue reinforces Qoheleth’s approach to the wisdom task.

1. Introduction

The author of Ecclesiastes – Qoheleth – muses at length on being wise and on wisdom as a quest and goal to be attained.2 In his unique self-reflective way, he describes ‘my mind (לבי) guiding me with wisdom (בחכמה)’ (Eccl. 2:3),3 and he often quotes proverbs,4 contrasting the

TynBull 71:1 (2020) p. 138

benefits of being wise over being foolish, proverbs that follow similar thematic lines to those in the main sayings collections of the book of Proverbs (10:1–22:16; 25–29, e.g. 10:1, 14; 12:18; 13:20). But at times he seems to question the attempt to gain wisdom, particularly when he contemplates the levelling plane of death, so that he asks of his own quest ‘why then have I been so very wise?’ (2:15) and in general ‘how can the wise die alongside the fool?’ (2:16). In short, as I will go on to discuss, Qoheleth can be seen to be both positive and negative about being wise and the wisdom exercise. At times wisdom seems to be his presupposition, his strength, and his benchmark for judging everything; at other time he sees its limitations and its relativity in the light of divine unpredictability and death. He even describes seeking by means...