Inter-Varsity Press

CONTENTS

Editors’ preface

Abbreviations

ECCLESIASTES

Author’s preface

Introduction

1. What is man?

2. What is the advantage?

3. But is everything temporary?

3.1. The Ancient Near East on brevity in life

3.2. The Old Testament on brevity in life

3.3. Metaphorical uses for hebel

3.4. A biblical constellation of words describing transience

3.5. Significance of time in Ecclesiastes

3.6. The extent of temporariness in our lives

4. Author and date

5. Other themes

5.1. Wisdom generally

5.2. Advantages in life

5.3. Joy and pleasure

5.4. Wise, enjoyable effort

5.5. God’s sovereignty

5.6. Realism

6. History of interpretation

6.1. Overview

6.2. Conservative interpretation

6.3. Critical interpretation

6.4. Interpretation of hebel

7. Genre

7.1. Philosophical

7.2. Cosmopolitan

7.3. Poetic or proverbial

7.4. Oratorical

7.5. Autobiographical

7.6. Vernacular 5

8. Language

8.1. Three ‘influence’ theories

9. Text

10. Structure

Text and commentary

THE SONG OF SONGS

Author’s preface

Introduction

1. Canonicity

2. Date

3. Authorship

4. Interpretational approaches

4.1. Non-literal approaches

4.2. Typological approaches

4.3. Dramatic approaches

4.4. Cultic approaches

4.5. Literal approaches

5. Literature

6. Unity

7. Structure

8. Theme

9. Purpose

Text and commentary

(From the Introduction to Ecclesiastes)

WHAT IS MAN?

When I observe your skies, the work of your fingers,

The moon and stars which you have placed.

What is man that you are concerned about him?

The son of man that you care for him?

How majestic is your name in all the earth!

(Ps. 8:4, 9)….

If we were left simply to our intuition about our significance in God’s vast and almost timeless universe, we would conclude that we are worthless – exactly David’s first impression when he ponders human significance in Ps. 8. He is struck by his own infinitesimally minute value compared to God’s infinite self-expression in his creation. When contemplating God’s immense creation, we wonder why we have any meaning in God’s gigantic and eternal cosmic order. Only the naively arrogant person ambles through life ignoring the profound order and beauty of the surrounding creation which soundly challenges his chaotic, grotesque pride. On the other hand, when the faithful appreciate and accept God’s loving care and ample gifts for an enjoyable life, they are lifted to those same heavenly and daunting heights which for a moment dwarfed them. David’s reflections, then, are personal, emotional, and eventually, worshipful: ‘O LORD, the majesty of your name fills the earth!’ (Ps. 8:1, 9).

Overcome by God’s stunning creative genius and power, and so humbled by his sovereign care, David is driven to ask, ‘Why should you care about me?’ But the answer is so much more wonderful than the questioner could even anticipate: not only does God care for us; he entrusts the entire earth to us as his governing assistants! David remembers God’s primary commission of Gen. 1:26–28, ‘Fill the earth and subdue it, be masters . . . ’ But he also notices the irony of having authority over God’s creation yet being totally dependent on the Lord’s care as his sovereign servant. In this short psalm lies the seeds of a full biblical theology – our sovereign creator blesses his commissioned sovereign humanity with his shepherding care.

This commissioned authority of humanity over the world is a permeating theme in OT and NT theology. Guided by God’s legal and wisdom axioms, humanity is expected to fulfil its purpose by managing the earth in a godly fashion. Our purpose in God’s cosmic order is to be his ruling servants ‘under the sun’, as Ecclesiastes refers to the whole world. Even Christ’s saving incarnation, as well as his glorious return to continue reigning as the divine king, have this same fundamental purpose – to fulfil the primary commission of godly ruling of earth. This dominant theme of the first book’s first chapter, Gen. 1, reverberates clearly throughout the scriptures in places such as Ps. 8 and Heb. 2, and culminates in the last book’s last chapter in Rev. 22:5.

The role of the OT wisdom literature, including Ecclesiastes, is to reflect this commissional theology by describing more fully our function as managers of God’s earth. In the wisdom literature, we find the resources for knowledge and discernment to order our life’s personal daily schedules and to order our surroundings according to the standards of Scripture. In the OT, the primary commission is expanded for the Israelite community in the legal literature, but is described in just as much detail for the individual in the wisdom literature. A substantial portion of the wisdom literature gives very practical instructions for the daily subduing of the apparently random challenges we face between waking and sleeping. These instructions in turn are synchronized with God’s sovereign administration of the planet through his built-in physical, social, psychological and spiritual principles.

Ecclesiastes is an intense exhortation along these lines. But what throws us off in this speech called Ecclesiastes is its uncensored, bottom-line assessment of reality based on an exploration autonomous from special revelation. Furthermore, the book is not palatable to those steeped in theological platitudes and whose theology never travels a block past Justification Street. Yet those who thirst for the required wisdom for holistic sanctification will listen exhaustively to the teachings of this biblical sage. …