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Lucas WrightOT500: The Writings as Introduction To The Old TestamentFebruary 14, 2011

Content and Context

Ecclesiastes 3 is situated within the larger context of an assertion of humanity’s

place within a created order over which humans exercise little to no control (1:9; 2:13;

3:14). While the main argument of the whole work is continued in chapter 3, it is

augmented in that the argument expands to include a wider range of universal experiences

than those initially used as a foundation. Thus, Ecclesiastes 3 is both a continuation and a

point of transition.

Qoheleth continues the assertions made in the previous two chapters by further

explicating the dimensions of the core theme, the inescapable order of the world, which

results in actions being rendered arbitrary. Qoheleth continues this argument by using

generalized social concepts, noted in the thesis/antithesis pattern at the beginning of chapter

3 (3:1-8), as well as more specific themes such as justice and God’s enforcement of justice

(3:17). Especially important to this poem is the emphasis placed upon a concept of

appropriate timing for every action.

Qoheleth utilizes this foundation in commenting upon the previously mentioned

theme of toil (2:18-23). This is done with the added interpretive element of timing found in

the new poem (3:10-11). This element does not negate the previous statements of actions

being undertaken in vanity but rather, timing is used to support the overarching

determinism of the created order (3:14-15). This is extended into the realm of justice with

the final claim being that God is expected to judge wickedness and return creation to dust

(3:16-22). This final claim further supports the assertion of everything as vane (3:19-21).

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Concerns of the Text

In attempting to explicate the central concerns of Ecclesiastes 3, it is appropriate to

first identify more generalized themes of Hebraic wisdom literature. Specifically, it is

important to identify those general themes, which Qoheleth employs toward the end of

achieving the desired effect in Ecclesiastes 3. After engaging three core elements that are

found within the broader wisdom tradition of the Old Testament, it will be argued that the

central concern of Ecclesiastes 3 is to be understood as an attempt by Qoheleth to formulate

a particular aspect of a broader argument already introduced in chapters 1 and 2. This

argument being that within the control of God the world is ordered beyond human

comprehension in inescapable and repetitive cycles.1 As such, the concerns of the particular

passage are broad in terms of how they engage theological, ethical, and sociopolitical

dimensions of the world in which Qoheleth was situated.

A. General Concerns: Qoheleth, Theopolitical Wisdom Literature and Coherence

Helpful in the initial task of analysis is Walter Brueggemann’s paradigm of filtering

Old Testament wisdom literature through the lenses of “embodiments of wisdom in

regularized social, institutional practice”.2 Perhaps the most important aspect of this

approach is that it places primary focus upon the real-time experiential context in which the

wisdom authors are writing. As such, several distinctive features of wisdom literature are

identified in such a way as to prepare a clear trajectory of analysis for Ecclesiastes 3. This

1 Horne, Milton. "Proverbs-Ecclesiastes." Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary”. Macon: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 2003. 423. 2 Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy. Minneapolis : Fortress Press, 1997. 681.

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is achieved by explicating observations regarding the textual significance of each aspect as

it relates to the overarching sociopolitical context.

The first of the themes that Brueggemann mentions is the reflective nature of

wisdom literature. Specifically relating to the current analytical task, the reflective nature of

Ecclesiastes 3 is the focus insofar as Qoheleth utilizes language contingent upon an

observation/assertion pattern (3:10 as observation versus 3:11 as assertion), which engages

themes of order, creation and justice (3: 11-12, 17). The reflections described by Qoheleth

however, are not necessarily bound by underlying interpretive categories but are rather

based upon empirical experience and observation.3 This experiential focus is noticeable in

Ecclesiastes 3 via language of personal observation by Qoheleth (3:10, 14, 16).

In addition, the experiential component of the text provides for the second and third

general foci of wisdom gleaned from Brueggemann. The second aspect is highlighted first,

as the way in which wisdom literature functions to compare and cohere life observations to

preconceived ethical standards and second, by noting how the ethical component is situated

within an overarching theo-political context of cult theological assumptions. It is this last

element of theo-political context that acts as a powerful conceptual framework for a given

wisdom author and thus, enables one to attribute to wisdom utterances the designation of a

sort of natural theology.4 Used within this context, the designation of natural theology

denotes the appeal to experience insofar as these described experiences relate to theological

assertions in the text (3:9-15).

3 Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament, 680-681.4 Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament, 681.

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With regard to how these two general elements are reflected in Ecclesiastes 3, the

flow of Qoheleth’s writing as it progresses from poetic observations (3:1-8) into, what may

be roughly described in contemporary terminology as an assertion of a theological ethics

(3:16-18) is important. With this preliminary statement regarding the progression of the

chapter, it is essential to note how the latter move into a discussion of justice draws upon

the aforementioned poem for general context. This is done via the language of timing.

Daniel Estes notes how this context utilizes language in a way that points to a deterministic

timing of all things that is imposed upon humanity, as opposed to a conception of how

human ought to act in freedom.5

As mentioned before, the experiences recounted in the writings are not necessarily

bound to conform to an underlying notion of interpretation. However, the fact that

experiences do not readily cohere to the expected norms of theological justice seem to

contribute to Qoheleth’s continual appeal to humans not being able to understand how God

will accomplish what is necessitated by the basic principles of a particularly Hebraic

theological position. Thus, there is a constant tension between the deterministic character of

life according to Qoheleth and the underlying theological and ethical expectations of the

current time and culture.

Given the theo-ethical character of the text, insofar as Qoheleth is asserting

empirical observations of life entwined with theological judgments, one may also note how

these general themes of wisdom, along with the specific concerns of Qoheleth, fit within a

particular sociopolitical context that may be described as behind or over the text. Particular

5 Daniel J. Estes, Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Grand Rapids : Baker Academic, 2005. 309.

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to the text of Ecclesiastes is the balance in Qoheleth’s observations between the arbitrary

confusion within the current socioeconomic order and the specific theological

presuppositions of Jewish identity. This is evidenced in the introductory poem (3:1-8),

which serves to illustrate the determinative nature of the repetitious cycles of life via a

literary structure of antithesis.6 Qoheleth builds upon this poem to assert a theological

nature to this determination and to the human inability to understand (3:11, 14-15).

However, if one ascribes a postexilic date to the text, it may be that such a

theological judgment is made because of the marginal placement of Qoheleth within the

larger Persian Empire, assuming that the initial identification of Qoheleth as a ruler is

merely a genre denotation (1:1, 12). In keeping with the aforementioned theme of

attempted coherence of ethical experience and theo-political presupposition, it is possible to

note how the arbitrary lack of control Qoheleth asserts is related to the broader context of

empire in which the social structures of life were primarily “determined in seats of power

that the ordinary citizens…could hardly grasp”.7 This approach to the text is consistent not

only with Brueggemann’s coherence model but also with Rolf Knierim’s hermeneutical

perspective of perceiving theological speech not in terms of a directly constructive assertion

about Yahweh but rather, as an active struggle for meaning in and as creation in which

Yahweh appears in chaos.8

6 William J. Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic , 2002. 289.7 Estes, Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms. 274.8 Rolf Knierman, The Task of Old Testament Theology: Substance, Methods, and Cases. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. 175. As cited in: Ben C. Ollenburger, Old Testament Theology: Flowering and Future. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns , 2004. 280.

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B. Specific Concerns: The Nature of Justice and Order

A central concern of the text of Ecclesiastes 3, particularly as it functions with the

previously mentioned coherence focus, is the underlying assumption of justice and the

apparent arbitrariness to this assumed justice in the observable experiences of life (3:17-

18). Dianne Bergant’s analysis of Ecclesiastes’ rhetorical function is helpful for

understanding this aspect of Qoheleth’s writing in that she clearly identifies two primary

underlying assumptions of justice. Both are within the context of how they relate to an

overarching concept of retribution as the mode by which justice enacts real-time events.

The first presumption of retributive justice adheres to the notion that the world

functions not only with a material nature but also, upon a concept of moral ordering.9 Not

only is this evidenced in the appeal to God’s judgment with regard those who are labeled as

wicked, despite the apparent lack of or arbitrariness to any judgment in light of death (3:18-

21), but also, this moral aspect is appealed to in the social nature of the initial poem (3:1-

8).10 Thus, the concern, which posits at least a general form of moral ordering, relates to

both the divine interaction in order and to immanent societal concerns of what justice is and

how it is to engage between people within the context of life.

The presence of moral order is evident in the initial poem given how the content of

verses 1-8 continues the overarching argument of chapter 1 but with the added difference of

appeal to opposing ends of human experience – i.e. birth and death.11 Qoheleth began the

initial argument with an assertion of an ordered universe via an appeal to established

9 Dianne Bergant, Israel's Wisdom Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading. Minneapolis : Fortress Press, 1997. 116.10 Milton. Proverbs-Ecclesiastes. 424. 11 Milton. Proverbs-Ecclesiastes. 427.

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rhythms in nature (1:5-7). This initial assertion is then supplemented by an engagement

with social and ontological realities, which Qoheleth perceives to be common to humanity.

In so directing the argument toward human experience, which is later filtered through a

theological paradigm, the focus is less upon the expected enforcement of law and more

upon the human perspective of confusion.12 As a correlate to this confusion of justice, it

should be noted that the fact of death against serves as a foil for the initial positive or

concrete goodness of the expected proper enforcement of justice. Another way to put this

is, in death that comes to all, what good is justice?

Given this perspective it is not hard to see how Bergant’s second aspect of

retributive justice, moral laws as contingent upon human behavior, may be the assumption.

Despite the language utilized in terms associated with ethics, typically assumed in

contemporary liberal democracies as an objective standard to which such language

corresponds, this is rather, a particular subjective human perspective. Moreover, the

subjectivity is such that it is a perspective in which, “the character of human behavior

governs the character of God’s involvement in human affairs”.13

That Qoheleth structures the argument thusly ought to be taken as a purposeful

action utilized in order to illustrate the tensions between the assumed order of morality and

the lack of human control with regard to how the world actually works. In involving God as

the director of this mysterious timing, Qoheleth again is attempting to cohere empirical

observation with theological necessity. This proves to be a reoccurring theme in connection

12 Bergant. Israel’s Wisdom Literature. 116. 13 Bergant. Israel’s Wisdom Literature. 116.

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with Qoheleth’s remarks on justice since the reality of death and God’s incomprehensible

nature continually rebound Qoheleth’s conclusions to an educated feeling at best.

Moreover, the specific reassertion of the vanity of all human action (3:20) is stated

after Qoheleth illustrates the deterministic nature of human life via the initial poem and the

succeeding remarks regarding God’s incomprehensible timing in judgment. This placement

is important in that it exposes the sub-argument within the chapter. The specific focus into

the verses following Qoheleth’s comments upon God’s judgment (3:18) is upon reinforcing

determinations in the world’s order, as well as the limits of human knowledge of such an

ordering. This prepares the way for Qoheleth to qualify all of the statements made to this

point.

After noting all of this, Qoheleth utilizes a crucial qualifier with regard to

interpreting all of the previously mentioned statements endorsing a God-controlled

determinism; death comes to all (3:19). “As Qoheleth observes life under the sun, the outer

limit of his investigation is fixed by death”.14 This last theme serves to further enforce the

ongoing process of deconstruction, with regard to typical human conceptions of superiority

to other creatures. In death, humans are no different from any other beast since all returns to

dust.15 This renders all as a striving after the wind in that all is finite.

Hermeneutical Significance

A. General Concerns

The text of Ecclesiastes 3 is especially relevant to the issues that arise in

contemporary liberal democratic societies when generalized values are simply assumed

14 Estes, Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms. 318. 15 Milton. Proverbs-Ecclesiastes. 435.

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without a particular qualifier. More specifically, the issue of asserting value claims within

one such liberalized society, the United States of America, without any conception of an

overarching identity beyond vague notions of moral conviction, opens the way for the

disconcerting elements in Ecclesiastes 3 as applicable critical statements against the

assumed sociopolitical system.16 In engaging this issue, which is the problem of asserting

any sort of meaningful moral claim from within a society which is only vaguely united in a

false notion of infinite national life, more specific issues such as the healthcare debate and

the legalization of homosexual marriage are critiqued as a correlate. That they become

relevant is not due to any intrinsic value in the specific contemporary arguments but rather,

a result of those issues’ contingency upon the assumption of intrinsic human “rights”.

With regard to difficulties in hermeneutical application, the most obvious and

pressing is that of differences in context. The reason the difference is especially pressing in

this case is a result of the type of literature that Qoheleth produces in the book of

Ecclesiastes. Rather than the book being within the realm of a proper modern treatise of

critical theory, it takes the form of a poetic prose intermingled with broad existential

commentary upon current experiences of the author from the perspective of a specifically

Jewish theology. As a result, a direct application is impossible. The approach here is to

attempt a utilization of the general themes of the text, such as the reality of death, and apply

them to the contemporary western fixation upon entitled rights and the effects of such rights

upon the identity of the Church in the United States.

B. Specific Concerns

16 Stanley Hauerwas, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983. 4.

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The critique that Stanley Hauerwas offers, with regard to the United State’s

indefensible moral foundation of rights is particularly helpful in undertaking an attempt to

subvert such a foundation via theological language. It is helpful insofar as his critique helps

frame the issue in such a way as to make the text of Ecclesiastes 3 more readily applicable.

He notes, “America was the attempt to found a historical tradition to connect a particular

past to a universal future”.17 With this statement at the forefront of the discussion, it is

important to note the paradox in the contemporary sociopolitical situation between

polarized groups claiming universal rights, without any concrete structure under which all

value claims may be judged.

The United States operates under the presuppositions of a liberal pluralism that

enables many differing factions to be united under the banner of a mystical struggle of

autonomy and freedom in the name of individual rights. Such a struggle negates any real

acknowledgment of the finitude of life, nor of any truly authoritative power that has

ordered the world so that notions of “rights” become arbitrary and meaningless. As such,

the initial poem of Ecclesiastes 3 is relevant as a theo-political critique.

As previously mentioned, the conception of everything in a proper time (3:1-8)

denotes an order that is imposed upon humans rather than simply chosen. In fact, although

Qoheleth utilizes the language of social experiences common in humanity the broader

judgment relies on the fact that humans have no control and are merely subject to the world

in which they participate.18 This assertion contradicts the aforementioned sociological and

political presuppositions of contemporary American society in that Qoheleth portrays a

17 Stanley Hauerwas, A Better Hope: Resources for a Church Confronting Capitalism, Democracy, and Postmodernity (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2000). 31.18 Milton. Proverbs-Ecclesiastes. 424.

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universe in which even an assertion of one’s own rights may be designated as a striving

after the wind. Americans, despite their aggressive possessive language, do not determine

their own destinies in a vacuum but rather, are contingent upon underlying assumptions

which serve to inform an identity that reinforces the false notion of autonomy from any

prior authoritative ordering.

Furthermore, the statements made in Ecclesiastes regarding death (3:19) serve as a

psychosocial critique to the commonly assumed infinity of the American life. This attitude

towards a conception of the individual person, in which the reality of death is oppressed

beneath that never-ending quest for freedom, is that which Hauerwas identified previously.

Americans implicitly assume an infinite life, despite the obvious fact that life will end and

all things related will pass away. In such a society, the words of Qoheleth regarding death

bring a sobering critique to the American psyche insofar they shake the foundations of

falsely assumed infinity national life.

In light of the application of both of these critical features in Ecclesiastes 3, the

more specific issues of healthcare and homosexual marriage may possibly be reevaluated

with regard to how the debates themselves are structured. In both cases the arguments have

typically been framed within the context of individuals asserting universally accepted

rights. However, Qoheleth’s words refuse to adhere to any such notions of vague

possessive autonomy. Rather, the text of Ecclesiastes 3 indicates that contingency is a fact

for all of humanity and no one may know the reason for any particular occurrence.

With regard to difficulties in applying the text, the obvious difficulty is that of

difference between Qoheleth’s sociopolitical context and of the contemporary American

context. In addition, underlying notions of justice and theology differ. However, the

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argument put forth for critical application necessarily relies upon this difference in assumed

principles in order for critical assertions based within Ecclesiastes 3 to be affective.

Whereas the current debates of rights in American society, embodied in arguments of

healthcare and marriage law, are based upon a vague notion of free equality; Qoheleth

makes no such assumption. As a result, the text of Ecclesiastes can be utilized as a counter-

testimony to the American foundation of society and personhood.

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Bibliography

Bergant, Dianne. Israel's Wisdom Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading . Minneapolis :

Fortress Press, 1997.

Brueggemann, Walter. Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy .

Minneapolis : Fortress Press , 1997.

Dumbrell, William J. The Faith of Israel. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic , 2002.

Estes, Daniel J. Handbook on the Wisdom Books and Psalms: Job, Psalms, Proverbs,

Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs . Grand Rapids : Baker Academic, 2005.

Hauerwas, Stanley. A Better Hope: Resources for a Church Confronting Capitalism,

Democracy, and Postmodernity. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2000.

—. The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics . Notre Dame: University of

Notre Dame Press, 1983.

Horne, Milton P. “Proverbs-Ecclesiastes.” Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary. Smyth &

Helwys Publishing Inc. 2003.

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Knierman, Rolf. The Task of Old Testament Theology: Substance, Methods, and Cases.

Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

Ollenburger, Ben C. Old Testament Theology: Flowering and Future . Winona Lake:

Eisenbrauns , 2004.