Royal Autobiography in the Book of Qoheleth: Dissertationsschrift

252 Pages·2006·12.452 MB·English

by  Y. V. Koh

Υ. Υ Koh
Royal Autobiography in the Book of Qoheleth
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Herausgegeben von
John Barton · Reinhard G. Kratz
Choon-Leong Seow · Markus Witte
Band 369
W
DE
G
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Υ. V. Koh
Royal Autobiography
in the Book of Qoheleth
w
DE
_G
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
@ Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI
to ensure permanence and durability.
ISBN-13: 978-3-11-019228-5
ISBN-10: 3-11-019228-4
ISSN 0934-2575
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the J ibrary of Congress.
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
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© Copyright 2006 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin
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Printed in Germany
Cover design: Christopher Schneidcr, Berlin
To Revd. Professor John A. Emerton
In gratitude for his support and encouragement, and friendship.

Table of Contents
Abbreviations XI
Sigla XVII
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
I. Introduction 2
II. A Survey of the History of Interpretation of Qoheleth 2
A. Pre-Critical Interpretations 2
1. Early Jewish Interpretations 2
2. Early Church Interpretations 6
3. The Reformation 9
B. Modern Critical Scholarship on Qoheleth 10
C. Current Sceptical Interpretations of Qoheleth 14
III. Purpose of This Study 17
IV. Outline of This Study 18
V. Scope of This Study 19
Chapter 2: The Royal Voice of Qoheleth 25
I. Examination of the Main Evidence of the
Royal Voice in 1:12-2:26 25
A. Qoheleth's Self-Introduction (1:12) 28
B. A Solomonic Experiment (1:13-18) 29
C. A Test of Pleasure (2:1-11) 31
D. An Experiment with Wisdom and the Issue
of Royal Legacy (2:12-23) 34
E. Qoheleth's Practical Advice for Living (2:24-26) 36
F. Summary 37
II. Does the Royal Voice Speak Beyond 2:26? 38
III. Arguments for the Pervasiveness
of Qoheleth's Royal Voice 40
A. Perdue - the Royal Testament of Qoheleth 41
VIII Table of Contents
Β. Christianson - Telling the Story of Qoheleth 41
C. Summary 48
IV. Examination of the Allegedly 'Anti-Royal' Passages 50
A. The Problem of Injustice 50
1. 3:16-17 50
2. 4:1 52
3. 5:7-8 [ET vv.8-9] 54
4. 10:5-7 56
B. The Nature of Kingship 58
1. 4:13-16 59
2. 8:1-5 62
3. 10:16-17 66
4. 10:20 68
C. Summary 69
V. Concluding Remarks 70
Chapter 3: Qoheleth in the Context of Ancient Near Eastern
Literature 72
Section 1: The Royal Language of Qoheleth:
Qoheleth and Ancient Semitic Royal Inscriptions
I. West Semitic Royal Inscriptions 73
A. The Formulaic Self-Introduction 74
B. The Royal Boasting of Deeds 78
C. Comparison with Predecessors
and Contemporaries 82
D. Royal Wisdom 85
E. A Political and Military Background 87
F. Summary 89
II. Akkadian (Sargonid) Royal Inscriptions 90
A. The Formulaic Self-Introduction 91
B. The Royal Boasting 92
1. Palaces, Canals, Gardens and Parks 93
2. The Treasures of Kings 96
C. Comparison with Predecessors 99
D. Royal Wisdom 100
E. Warring Background 103
F. Summary 104
III. Concluding Remarks 104
Table of Contents IX
Section 2: Qoheleth and the Fictional Royal Texts of Akkad
and Ancient Egypt
IV. Longman's 'Fictional Akkadian Autobiographies' 106
A. Fictional Akkadian Autobiographies
with Didactic Endings 107
B. Longman's Analysis of Qoheleth Ill
C. Summary 112
V. Pseudo-autobiographies of the Kings of Akkad 112
A. The Cuthean Legend of Naram Sin 114
B. A Text of the King of Isin 117
C. A Sargon Autobiography 118
D. The Sargon Legend 118
E. Key Characteristics of the Corpus 120
F. Summary 121
VI. Egyptian Instructions 123
A. Royal Testaments 123
B. Royal Instructions 126
1. Fictional Authorship 128
2. Title 129
3. Framework 130
4. Themes and Motifs 135
C. Summary 139
VII. Pessimistic Reflective Discourses 140
A. Royal Laments 140
B. Summary 143
VIII. Concluding Remarks 143
Chapter 4: Qoheleth as Royal Autobiography 146
I. Autobiography as a Wisdom Form 146
II. The Autobiographical Character of Qoheleth 152
III. The Pervasive Presence of Qoheleth 156
A. The Prevalent Τ 156
Β. The Presence of Second-Person Address
and the Issue of Unity 160
1. Qoheleth as Narrator and Teacher 161
2. The Use of Sayings in Qoheleth 163
X Table of Contents
IV. The Dynamics of Qoheleth's Narrative 173
A. Loader's Theory of Polar Tensions 174
B. Qoheleth's Zwar-Aber Dialectic Style
of Narration 178
1. 9:13-16: Wisdom's Subservience to Time
and Chance 179
2. 9:11-12: Fate, Time and Chance 181
3. 4:4-6: Competitiveness Versus Contentment 182
V. Qoheleth As Royal Autobiography 184
A. The Story of the Life of A King 184
B. Qoheleth's Quest for the Meaning of Life 187
C. Qoheleth's Conclusions and Advice 192
VI. Qoheleth's Thoughts on Wisdom and Folly 195
VII. Concluding Remarks 198
Chapter 5: Conclusion 201
Bibliography 209
Index of Biblical and Apocryphal References 227