Ecclesiastes Through the Centuries

Preface.

Testimonia.

Introduction.

A History of Reception Histories.

Reading Strategies and Lines of Influence.

Pre-Modern Reading: –1500.

Early Modern Reading: 1500–1800.

Modern Reading: 1800–.

Ecclesiastes 1.

The Life and Death of Solomon the Author: 1:1 et passim.

Vanitas vanitatum: 1:2 et passim.

The Overture Played Out: 1:3–18.

Ecclesiastes 2.

Wrestling with the Test of Pleasure: 2:1–10.

Understanding Wisdom, Folly and God’s Gifts: 2:11–24.

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8.

The Totality of Times.

Ecclesiastes 3:9–6:12.

On Fate, Knowledge and Anthropology: 3:9–22.

On Oppression and the Value of Companionship: 4:1–12.

On Conducting Oneself in the House of God: 5:1–8.

On the Possibility of Profit and Relief from hebel: 5:10–6:12.

Ecclesiastes 7–8.

The Curious Values of Wisdom: 7:1–12.

The Incongruity of Experience and the Inaccessibility of Wisdom: 7:13–29.

About Wisdom, Power and Authority: 8:1–17.

Ecclesiastes 9:1–12.

The Wisdom of Death and Life.

Ecclesiastes 9:13–11:10.

Wise Conduct in the Light of Uncertainty: 9:13–11:6.

The Final Call to Joy: 11:7–10.

Ecclesiastes 12:1–7.

The Rule of Allegory.

Beyond Allegory.

Ecclesiastes 12:8–14.

The Final Word.

A Hermeneutical Postscript.

Understanding the Pervasive Appeal of Qoheleth.

The Exegetical ‘Fidelity’ of Ecclesiastes’ Reception History.

How Might This Reception History Inform the Discipline?.

Bibliography.

Primary Sources.

Reception Histories of Ecclesiastes.

Specialist Comparative Studies.

Ecclesiastes General Secondary Sources.

Other Secondary Sources.

Appendix—The Quotable Qoheleth: Ecclesiastes in Popular Discourse.

List of Illustrations.

Acknowledgements.

Name Index.

Subject Index