JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

ecclesiastes rabbah
tices but insists that God is just. Qohelet does not eliminate
this contradiction but is just frustrated by it.
God for Qohelet is an absolute, unpredictable autocrat.
He is a distant and all-powerful force who can be feared but
not loved (3:14b; 5:1, 2, 4; 6). But, though rather steely and remote,
He is not uniformly hostile. If (for unpredictable reasons)
God should grant someone good things, He wants the
fortunate man to enjoy these gifts (5:20; 9:7).
For all his complaints, Qohelet is not a nihilist. “Everything
is absurd” is to be understood as expressing a general
characterization of life, not an absolute negation of the value
of all activities and values. Qohelet shows how humans can
recover and reconstruct meanings. He does not arrive at a
grand logic or theology that makes sense of everything, but
he does recommend modest adjustments and small-scale accommodations
in our individual lives.
Some things Qohelet does find worthwhile, such as moderate
work, temperate enjoyment of the pleasures that come
to hand, love and friendship, gaining and using whatever wisdom
is within our capacity, being reasonably righteous, and
fearing God. Though their benefits are brief, imperfect, and
uncertain, they are enough to make life worth living. Qohelet
comes to realize that despite all its unfairness and absurdity,
life itself is good, to be grasped all the more eagerly for
death’s finality.
Qohelet’s affirmations all look inward, to each individual’s
benefit, and his concerns are internal as well: what troubles
people, what cheers them up, how they can get along in a
world in which much is predetermined and opaque. Though
there are practical things we can do to reduce the risks, the
only real realm of real freedom and control is the human
heart – the domain of emotions, thoughts, and attitudes.
We are to enjoy whatever pleasures God makes possible and
avoid whatever sorrow we can. This, we may note, is Stoic
doctrine as well.
A different theology emerges in the epilogue, 12:9–14.
This is commonly considered an addition by a later scribe,
but it may well be the words of the anonymous author. The
epilogue evaluates Qohelet from a more conventional standpoint.
It assures the reader that Qohelet was a wise and eloquent
teacher, but also warns that the words of the wise hold
certain dangers. What is of ultimate importance is to fear
God, obey His commandments, and live in awareness of His
ultimate judgment.
Bibliography: EARLY COMMENTARIES: MIDRASH QOHE-
LET RABBA 8th–10th C. B.C.E.; ENGLISH TRANS. A. Cohen, Midrash
Rabbah, 8 (1983); Saadiah Gaon; Rashi; Abraham Ibn Ezra; Samuel b.
Meir; Samuel ibn Tibbon; Obadiah b. Jacob Sforno; Yosef Ibn Yaḥyah;
Moshe b. Hayyim Alsheikh. MODERN COMMENTARIES: G.A. Barton
(ICC, 1908); C.D. Ginsburg (1861; with extensive survey of older literature);
E. Podechard (Fr., 1912); H.W. Hertzberg (Ger., 1932, 19632 ); R.
Gordis (1951, 19673 ); H.L. Ginsberg (Heb., 1961); J.L. Crenshaw (OTL,
1987); R.L. Murphy (WBC, 1992); M.V. Fox (JPS Commentary, 2004);
C.L. Seow (AB, 1997); T. Longman III (NICOT, 1998); N. Lohfink
(Continental Commentaries, 2003). STUDIES: H.L. Ginsberg, Studies
in Kohelet (1950); E. Bickerman, Four Strange Books of the Bible (1967),
139–67. Add. Bibliography: A. Schoors, The Preacher Sought to
Find Pleasing Words (1992); idem, Qohelet in the Context of Wisdom
(1997); M.V. Fox, A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up (1999);
D.C. Fredericks, Coping With Transcience (1993); E. Christianson, A
Time to Tell: Narrative Strategies in Qoheleth (1998); S. Burkes, Death
in Qoheleth (1999); R. Sandberg, Rabbinic Views of Qohelet (1999); D.
Rudman, Determinism in the Book of Ecclesiastes (2001).
[Harold Louis Ginsberg / Michael v. Fox (2nd ed.)]
ECCLESIASTES RABBAH (Heb. הָ ּבַ ר תֶלֶהֹק, Kohelet Rabbah),
*aggadic Midrash on the book of *Ecclesiastes, called
“Midrash Kohelet” in the editio princeps. (On the term “Rabbah,”
see Ruth *Rabbah.)
The Structure
Eccelesiastes Rabbah is an exegetical Midrash which gives a
chapter by chapter and verse by verse exposition of the Book
of Ecclesiastes. In the editio princeps, it is divided into three
sedarim (“orders”): (a) Chapters 1–6; (b) 6:1–9:6; (c) 9:7–the
end of the book of Ecclesiastes. In later editions however it
is also divided into 12 sections, corresponding to the biblical
chapters. The Midrash opens with an anonymous proem of
the classical type found in amoraic Midrashim. It begins with
an extraneous verse from the Book of Proverbs which is then
connected with the opening words of the Book of Ecclesiastes.
It bears, however, a few signs of lateness, including its (introductory
formula): “This is what the Scripture declared in the
holy spirit by Solomon king of Israel.”
The Language
Ecclesiastes Rabbah is written for the most part in mishnaic
Hebrew. Galilean Aramaic is also used, and there are numerous
Greek words.
The Date of its Redaction
The redactor used tannaitic literature, the Jerusalem *Talmud,
*Genesis Rabbah, *Leviticus Rabbah, *Lamentations Rabbah,
and *Esther Rabbah. The work also incorporates material
taken from the Babylonian *Talmud, some of which, however,
was added later. Several factors indicate that Ecclesiastes
Rabbah is of a comparatively late date, having been redacted
apparently not earlier than the eighth century C.E. It was used
by the paytan *Solomon b. Judah ha-Bavli, who flourished in
the second half of the tenth century C.E., and it is quoted by
*Nathan b. Jehiel in his Arukh (c. 1100). Ecclesiastes Rabbah
contains much important material of the tannaitic and amoraic
periods, and also numerous aggadot of a polemical character,
some with anti-Christian references.
Editions
Ecclesiastes Rabbah was first published at Pesaro in 1519, together
with Midrashim on the four other scrolls (Song of
Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, and Esther) to which, however,
it is entirely unrelated. The many subsequent ones are based
on this edition. Although several manuscripts of Ecclesiastes
Rabbah are extant (the earliest dating from the 14th century),
a complete scholarly edition has yet to appear. M. Hirshman
edited the four first chapters of the book in his dissertation
90 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6