1. Opening Questions
How should one serve God?
Is there such a thing as 'going overboard' in piety?
2. Plan for This Class, Kohelet class 4
- 4:17-5:6 Approaching God
- 7:1-14 A Collection of Proverbs
- 7:23-29 Findings
Correction: I referred to the late Frank Moore Cross Jr. in a mistaken context. Canonical Criticism is associated not with him but rather with the late Brevard Childs.
By Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld - Die Bibel in Bildern, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5490767
Solomon and Lady Wisdom by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld (1794-1872), 1860
3. Questions for Our Texts
- Kohelet warns against inappropriate piety in 4:17-5:6. What kinds of religious acts or elements does he describe?
- In reading Chapter 7, consider words that describe adding, making an account, finding, and profit/advantage. How do you understand the use of these related terms?
- What does 7:23-29 imply about Kohelet's views of women?
- Each of our selections refers to God. Consider what these passages say about God.
4. Our Texts
(יז) שְׁמֹ֣ר (רגליך) [רַגְלְךָ֗] כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר תֵּלֵךְ֙ אֶל־בֵּ֣ית הָאֱלֹקִ֔ים וְקָר֣וֹב לִשְׁמֹ֔עַ מִתֵּ֥ת הַכְּסִילִ֖ים זָ֑בַח כִּֽי־אֵינָ֥ם יוֹדְעִ֖ים לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת רָֽע׃
(א) אַל־תְּבַהֵ֨ל עַל־פִּ֜יךָ וְלִבְּךָ֧ אַל־יְמַהֵ֛ר לְהוֹצִ֥יא דָבָ֖ר לִפְנֵ֣י הָאֱלֹקִ֑ים כִּ֣י הָאֱלֹקִ֤ים בַּשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וְאַתָּ֣ה עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֛ן יִהְי֥וּ דְבָרֶ֖יךָ מְעַטִּֽים׃
(ב) כִּ֛י בָּ֥א הַחֲל֖וֹם בְּרֹ֣ב עִנְיָ֑ן וְק֥וֹל כְּסִ֖יל בְּרֹ֥ב דְּבָרִֽים׃
(ג) כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ תִּדֹּ֨ר נֶ֜דֶר לֵֽאלֹקִ֗ים אַל־תְּאַחֵר֙ לְשַׁלְּמ֔וֹ כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין חֵ֖פֶץ בַּכְּסִילִ֑ים אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־תִּדֹּ֖ר שַׁלֵּֽם׃
(ד) ט֖וֹב אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־תִדֹּ֑ר מִשֶּׁתִּדּ֖וֹר וְלֹ֥א תְשַׁלֵּֽם׃
(ה) אַל־תִּתֵּ֤ן אֶת־פִּ֙יךָ֙ לַחֲטִ֣יא אֶת־בְּשָׂרֶ֔ךָ וְאַל־תֹּאמַר֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הַמַּלְאָ֔ךְ כִּ֥י שְׁגָגָ֖ה הִ֑יא לָ֣מָּה יִקְצֹ֤ף הָֽאֱלֹקִים֙ עַל־קוֹלֶ֔ךָ וְחִבֵּ֖ל אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יָדֶֽיךָ׃
(ו) כִּ֣י בְרֹ֤ב חֲלֹמוֹת֙ וַהֲבָלִ֔ים וּדְבָרִ֖ים הַרְבֵּ֑ה כִּ֥י אֶת־הָאֱלֹקִ֖ים יְרָֽא׃
(17) Be not overeager to go to the House of God: more acceptable is obedience than the offering of fools, for they know nothing [but] to do wrong.
(1) Keep your mouth from being rash [ב.ה.ל./b.h.l.], and let not your throat [לב. lev / heart ] be quick to bring forth speech before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; that is why your words should be few.
(2) Just as dreams come with much brooding, so does foolish utterance come with much speech.
(3) When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. For He has no pleasure in fools; what you vow, fulfill.
(4) It is better not to vow at all than to vow and not fulfill.
(5) Don’t let your mouth bring you into disfavor, and don’t plead before the messenger that it was an error, but fear God; else God may be angered by your talk and destroy [ח.ב.ל/ḥ.b.l.] your possessions.
(6) For much dreaming leads to futility [ה.ב.ל/h.b.l (hevel)] and to superfluous talk.
(א) ט֥וֹב שֵׁ֖ם מִשֶּׁ֣מֶן ט֑וֹב וְי֣וֹם הַמָּ֔וֶת מִיּ֖וֹם הִוָּלְדֽוֹ׃
(ב) ט֞וֹב לָלֶ֣כֶת אֶל־בֵּֽית־אֵ֗בֶל מִלֶּ֙כֶת֙ אֶל־בֵּ֣ית מִשְׁתֶּ֔ה בַּאֲשֶׁ֕ר ה֖וּא ס֣וֹף כׇּל־הָאָדָ֑ם וְהַחַ֖י יִתֵּ֥ן אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃
(ג) ט֥וֹב כַּ֖עַס מִשְּׂח֑וֹק כִּֽי־בְרֹ֥עַ פָּנִ֖ים יִ֥יטַב לֵֽב׃
(ד) לֵ֤ב חֲכָמִים֙ בְּבֵ֣ית אֵ֔בֶל וְלֵ֥ב כְּסִילִ֖ים בְּבֵ֥ית שִׂמְחָֽה׃
(ה) ט֕וֹב לִשְׁמֹ֖עַ גַּעֲרַ֣ת חָכָ֑ם מֵאִ֕ישׁ שֹׁמֵ֖עַ שִׁ֥יר כְּסִילִֽים׃
(ו) כִּ֣י כְק֤וֹל הַסִּירִים֙ תַּ֣חַת הַסִּ֔יר כֵּ֖ן שְׂחֹ֣ק הַכְּסִ֑יל וְגַם־זֶ֖ה הָֽבֶל׃
(ז) כִּ֥י הָעֹ֖שֶׁק יְהוֹלֵ֣ל חָכָ֑ם וִֽיאַבֵּ֥ד אֶת־לֵ֖ב מַתָּנָֽה׃
In the old 'sidra' divisions of Tanach, 7:1 begins the 3rd of 4 divisions in Kohelet. In other words. It is a kind of middle point in the book.
(1) A good name is better than fragrant oil, and the day of death than the day of birth.
(2) It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting; for that is the end of every man, and a living one should take it to heart.
(3) Vexation is better than revelry; for though the face be sad, the heart may be glad.
(4) Wise men are drawn to a house of mourning, and fools to a house of merrymaking.
(5) It is better to listen to a wise man’s reproof than to listen to the praise of fools.
(6) For the levity of the fool is like the crackling of nettles under a kettle. But that too is illusory;
(7) for cheating may rob the wise man of reason and destroy the prudence of the cautious.
(ח) ט֛וֹב אַחֲרִ֥ית דָּבָ֖ר מֵֽרֵאשִׁית֑וֹ ט֥וֹב אֶֽרֶךְ־ר֖וּחַ מִגְּבַהּ־רֽוּחַ׃
(ט) אַל־תְּבַהֵ֥ל בְּרֽוּחֲךָ֖ לִכְע֑וֹס כִּ֣י כַ֔עַס בְּחֵ֥יק כְּסִילִ֖ים יָנֽוּחַ׃
(י) אַל־תֹּאמַר֙ מֶ֣ה הָיָ֔ה שֶׁ֤הַיָּמִים֙ הָרִ֣אשֹׁנִ֔ים הָי֥וּ טוֹבִ֖ים מֵאֵ֑לֶּה כִּ֛י לֹ֥א מֵחׇכְמָ֖ה שָׁאַ֥לְתָּ עַל־זֶֽה׃
(יא) טוֹבָ֥ה חׇכְמָ֖ה עִֽם־נַחֲלָ֑ה וְיֹתֵ֖ר לְרֹאֵ֥י הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃
(יב) כִּ֛י בְּצֵ֥ל הַֽחׇכְמָ֖ה בְּצֵ֣ל הַכָּ֑סֶף וְיִתְר֣וֹן דַּ֔עַת הַֽחׇכְמָ֖ה תְּחַיֶּ֥ה בְעָלֶֽיהָ׃
(יג) רְאֵ֖ה אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה הָאֱלֹקִ֑ים כִּ֣י מִ֤י יוּכַל֙ לְתַקֵּ֔ן אֵ֖ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עִוְּתֽוֹ׃
(יד) בְּי֤וֹם טוֹבָה֙ הֱיֵ֣ה בְט֔וֹב וּבְי֥וֹם רָעָ֖ה רְאֵ֑ה גַּ֣ם אֶת־זֶ֤ה לְעֻמַּת־זֶה֙ עָשָׂ֣ה הָֽאֱלֹקִ֔ים עַל־דִּבְרַ֗ת שֶׁלֹּ֨א יִמְצָ֧א הָֽאָדָ֛ם אַחֲרָ֖יו מְאֽוּמָה׃
(8) The end of a matter is better than the beginning of it.
Better a patient spirit than a haughty spirit.
(9) Don’t let your spirit be quickly vexed, for vexation abides in the breasts of fools.
(10) Don’t say, “How has it happened that former times were better than these?” For it is not wise of you to ask that question.
(11) Wisdom is as good as a patrimony, and even better, for those who behold the sun.
(12) For to be in the shelter of wisdom is to be also in the shelter of money, and the advantage [yitron / ?net gain, profit] of intelligence is that wisdom preserves the life of him who possesses it.
(13) Consider God’s doing! Who can straighten what He has twisted?
(14) So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune, reflect: The one no less than the other was God’s doing; consequently, man may find no fault with Him.
(כג) כׇּל־זֹ֖ה נִסִּ֣יתִי בַֽחׇכְמָ֑ה אָמַ֣רְתִּי אֶחְכָּ֔מָה וְהִ֖יא רְחוֹקָ֥ה מִמֶּֽנִּי׃
(כד) רָח֖וֹק מַה־שֶּׁהָיָ֑ה וְעָמֹ֥ק ׀ עָמֹ֖ק מִ֥י יִמְצָאֶֽנּוּ׃
(כה) סַבּ֨וֹתִֽי אֲנִ֤י וְלִבִּי֙ לָדַ֣עַת וְלָת֔וּר וּבַקֵּ֥שׁ חׇכְמָ֖ה וְחֶשְׁבּ֑וֹן וְלָדַ֙עַת֙ רֶ֣שַׁע כֶּ֔סֶל וְהַסִּכְל֖וּת הוֹלֵלֽוֹת׃
(כו) וּמוֹצֶ֨א אֲנִ֜י מַ֣ר מִמָּ֗וֶת אֶת־הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֲשֶׁר־הִ֨יא מְצוֹדִ֧ים וַחֲרָמִ֛ים לִבָּ֖הּ אֲסוּרִ֣ים יָדֶ֑יהָ ט֞וֹב לִפְנֵ֤י הָאֱלֹקִים֙ יִמָּלֵ֣ט מִמֶּ֔נָּה וְחוֹטֵ֖א יִלָּ֥כֶד בָּֽהּ׃
(כז) רְאֵה֙ זֶ֣ה מָצָ֔אתִי אָמְרָ֖ה קֹהֶ֑לֶת אַחַ֥ת לְאַחַ֖ת לִמְצֹ֥א חֶשְׁבּֽוֹן׃
(כח) אֲשֶׁ֛ר עוֹד־בִּקְשָׁ֥ה נַפְשִׁ֖י וְלֹ֣א מָצָ֑אתִי אָדָ֞ם אֶחָ֤ד מֵאֶ֙לֶף֙ מָצָ֔אתִי וְאִשָּׁ֥ה בְכׇל־אֵ֖לֶּה לֹ֥א מָצָֽאתִי׃
(כט) לְבַד֙ רְאֵה־זֶ֣ה מָצָ֔אתִי אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֧ה הָאֱלֹקִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָדָ֖ם יָשָׁ֑ר וְהֵ֥מָּה בִקְשׁ֖וּ חִשְּׁבֹנ֥וֹת רַבִּֽים׃
(23) All this I tested with wisdom. I thought I could fathom it, but it eludes me.
(24) [The secret of] what happens is elusive and deep, deep down; who can discover it?
(25) I put my mind to studying, exploring, and seeking wisdom and the reason [heshbon - NRSV: 'sum'] of things, and to studying wickedness, stupidity, madness, and folly.
(26) Now, I find woman more bitter than death; she is all traps, her hands are fetters and her heart is snares. He who is pleasing to God escapes her, and he who is displeasing is caught by her.
(27) See, this is what I found, said Koheleth, item by item in my search for the reason [heshbon / NRSV: sum] of things.
(28) As for what I sought further but did not find, I found only one human being in a thousand, and the one I found among so many was never a woman.
(29) But, see, this I did find: God made men plain, but they have engaged in too much reasoning [hish'vonot / calculations?, schemes?].
5. Commentaries and Sources
5a. Comments on Ecclesiastes 4:17-5:6. How (Not) to Approach God
(17) Be not overeager to go to the House of God: more acceptable is obedience [lishmo'a] than the offering [zevach often refers to peace-offering] of fools, for they know nothing [but] to do wrong.
NJPS translators' note: Lit. “Guard your foot when it [or, you] would go.”
(כא) שָׂנֵ֥אתִי מָאַ֖סְתִּי חַגֵּיכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֥א אָרִ֖יחַ בְּעַצְּרֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ (כב) כִּ֣י אִם־תַּעֲלוּ־לִ֥י עֹל֛וֹת וּמִנְחֹתֵיכֶ֖ם לֹ֣א אֶרְצֶ֑ה וְשֶׁ֥לֶם מְרִיאֵיכֶ֖ם לֹ֥א אַבִּֽיט׃ (כג) הָסֵ֥ר מֵעָלַ֖י הֲמ֣וֹן שִׁרֶ֑יךָ וְזִמְרַ֥ת נְבָלֶ֖יךָ לֹ֥א אֶשְׁמָֽע׃ (כד) וְיִגַּ֥ל כַּמַּ֖יִם מִשְׁפָּ֑ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה כְּנַ֥חַל אֵיתָֽן׃
(21) I loathe, I spurn your festivals,
I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies. (22) If you offer Me burnt offerings—or your grain offerings—
I will not accept them;
I will pay no heed
To your gifts of fatlings. (23) Spare Me the sound of your hymns,
And let Me not hear the music of your lutes. (24) But let justice well up like water,
Righteousness like an unfailing stream.
(22) But Samuel said:
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As much as in obedience [ki-shmo'a] to the LORD’s command?
Surely, obedience is better than sacrifice,
Compliance than the fat of rams.
(1) Keep your mouth from being rash, and let not your throat be quick to bring forth speech before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth; that is why your words should be few.
פירוש המיוחס לרשב״ם
אל תבהל את פיך – וכאשר תתפלל לפניו, לא תהיה בהול בתפילתך להוציא ריבוי דברים לפני הקב״ה.
Commentary to Kohelet ascribed to Rashbam (Rabbi Shmuel ben Meir, a grandson of Rashi, 1085-1158), comment to 5:1
Keep your mouth from being rash: When you pray to Him, do not be rash in your prayer so as to express too many words before the Holy Blessed One.
(2) Just as dreams come with much brooding, so does foolish utterance come with much speech.
Ben-Sira (Sirach) 34:1-3 (from New Oxford Annotated Bible, p. 1524)
Ben Sira, also known as Ecclesiasticus, is an apocryphal poetic book of guidance for living a wise, ethical, and God-fearing life, composed in the 2nd century BCE by a scribe in Jerusalem named Shimon ben Yeshua ben Elazar ben Sira. - Sefaria, About Ben Sira
(1) The senseless have vain and false hopes, and dreams give wings to fools.
(2) As one who catches at a shadow and pursues the wind, so is anyone who believes in dreams.
(3) What is seen in dreams is but a reflection, the likeness of a face looking at itself.
(ו) כִּ֣י בְרֹ֤ב חֲלֹמוֹת֙ וַהֲבָלִ֔ים וּדְבָרִ֖ים הַרְבֵּ֑ה כִּ֥י אֶת־הָאֱלֹקִ֖ים יְרָֽא׃
(6) NRSV. With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words; but fear God.
Crenshaw, Commentary to 4:17-5:8 (p. 115)
Qohelet believes that talkativeness increases the chances for affront, just as dreams generate anxiety. One's primary obligation, to fear God, includes an acknowledgement that the deity has no special fondness for fools.
5b. Comments to Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 A Collection of Proverbs
(א) ט֥וֹב שֵׁ֖ם מִשֶּׁ֣מֶן ט֑וֹב וְי֣וֹם הַמָּ֔וֶת מִיּ֖וֹם הִוָּלְדֽוֹ׃
Reputation, life, and death
(1) A good name is better than fragrant oil, and the day of death than the day of birth.
In Hebrew, the first part of the verse reads:
tov shem mi-shemen tov
(א) נִבְחָ֣ר שֵׁ֭ם מֵעֹ֣שֶׁר רָ֑ב מִכֶּ֥סֶף וּ֝מִזָּהָ֗ב חֵ֣ן טֽוֹב׃
(1) Repute [shem / name] is preferable to great wealth,
Grace is better than silver and gold.
(35) For he who finds me [=Wisdsom] finds life
And obtains favor from the LORD. (36) But he who misses me destroys himself;
All who hate me love death.”
(2) It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting; for that is the end of every man, and a living one should take it to heart.
(4) Wise men are drawn to a house of mourning, and fools to a house of merrymaking.
Wise men: Having mentioned that "It is better to go to a house of mourning" (7:2), he says that even when the wise do not go to the house of mourning, the house or mourning is always within them. [Acknowledging Robert Gordis' citation]
מֹשֶׁה הִתְקִין שִׁבְעַת יְמֵי הַמִּשְׁתֶּה וְשִׁבְעַת יְמֵי הָאֶבֶל...
Moses instituted seven days of a marriage feast and seven days of mourning ...
Rabbi Abbahu said: From where is it derived that the mourner reclines at the head [rosh] of the table? As it is stated: “I chose out their way, and sat as chief [rosh], and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforts [yenaḥem] the mourners” (Job 29:25). This indicates that the mourner sits at the head of the table, as the chief.
(6) For the levity of the fool is like the crackling of nettles under a kettle. But that too is illusory;
The first part of this verse, transliterated from Hebrew:
ki kh-kol ha-sirim taḥat ha-sir, kein seḥok ha-kesil...
How does Kohelet view the past?
(10) Don’t say, “How has it happened that former times were better than these?” For it is not wise of you to ask that question.
(8) Ask the generation past,
Study what their fathers have searched out— (9) For we are of yesterday and know nothing;
Our days on earth are a shadow— (10) Surely they will teach you and tell you,
Speaking out of their understanding.
C. L. Seow, Commentary, p. 249
...people asked in exasperation, as we often do even now: 'Why can't things be as they used to be, when we knew better than we know now?' This was the problem that Qohelet's audience faced: the contradictions of life had made it impossible for people to take control of it, and the guidelines they had received from tradition did not seem to hold anymore.
D. Hankins & B. W. Breed, Commentary on Ecclesiastes for New Oxford Annotated Bible, p. 953
Qohelet consistently reorients the wise toward endings rather than beginnings (cf v. 8). - Comment to 7:10
(8) The end of a matter is better than the beginning of it.
Better a patient spirit than a haughty spirit.
(יג) רְאֵ֖ה אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה הָאֱלֹקִ֑ים כִּ֣י מִ֤י יוּכַל֙ לְתַקֵּ֔ן אֵ֖ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עִוְּתֽוֹ׃
(13) Consider God’s doing! Who can straighten what He has twisted?
Crenshaw, Comment to 7:13, p. 139
There is...frank recognition that the universe has wrinkles. Some things were twisted in the act of creation itself, and nothing can effectively transform them now. This attitude to the order of nature and human society differs sharply from later claims that a harmonious universe encourages virtue, a view that surfaces in Sirach [=Ben Sira] and Wisdom of Solomon.
(טו) מְעֻוָּ֖ת לֹא־יוּכַ֣ל לִתְקֹ֑ן וְחֶסְר֖וֹן לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל לְהִמָּנֽוֹת׃
(15) A twisted thing that cannot be made straight,
A lack that cannot be made good.
(29) But, see, this I did find: God made men plain [yashar / straight] , but they have engaged in too much reasoning.
(14) So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time of misfortune, reflect: The one no less than the other was God’s doing; consequently, man may find no fault with Him.
(3) The one was set up against the other. The good and the reward for its performance, in contrast to the evil and the ensuing punishment for doing it.
(4) That man should not find anything after him. To be critical of the Holy One, Blessed Is He.
(29) But, see, this I did find: God made men plain [yashar / NRSV: straigthforward], but they have engaged in too much reasoning.
5c. Comments to Ecclesiastes 7:23-29 Findings
"So Many Calculations - and Endless Appetites" by Lenore Mizrachi-Cohen, a mixed media conceptual artist, currently based in Brooklyn. https://www.929.org.il/lang/en/author/96427
The 'chyron' at the bottom of the image quotes Ecclesiastes 7:29, "But, see, this I did find: God made men plain, but they have engaged in too much reasoning [or so many calculations]."
(25) I put my mind to studying, exploring, and seeking wisdom and the reason [heshbon / sum] of things, and to studying wickedness, stupidity, madness, and folly.
C. L. Seow, Commentary, pp. 260-1
The word heshbon literally means 'accounting' or 'calculation.' It is used here in the sense of a meticulous accounting of matters, such as one would find in a ledger or an inventory. ... The term is clearly at home in the commercial world of the ancient Levant. ... In both the economic and general usages, the word may refer...also to a summary of details...In this passage it is used in the sense of an intellectual accounting, that is an explication of the events in the universe.
Ecclesiastes 7:26 Woman/The Woman/Folly
Hankins and Breed, New Oxford Annotated Bible, comment to 7:26
Qohelet alludes to the specific misogynist metaphors commonly found in wisdom literature that personify folly and wisdom as female icons.
C. L. Seow, Commentary, p. 262
The use of the definite article (...'the woman') does suggest that the audience is expected to know who this feminine figure is. If one looks for an antecedent referent, the most obvious would be hassiklut 'folly' in the preceding verse (7:25).
(כו) וּמוֹצֶ֨א אֲנִ֜י מַ֣ר מִמָּ֗וֶת אֶת־הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אֲשֶׁר־הִ֨יא מְצוֹדִ֧ים וַחֲרָמִ֛ים לִבָּ֖הּ אֲסוּרִ֣ים יָדֶ֑יהָ ט֞וֹב לִפְנֵ֤י הָאֱלֹקִים֙ יִמָּלֵ֣ט מִמֶּ֔נָּה וְחוֹטֵ֖א יִלָּ֥כֶד בָּֽהּ׃
(26) NJPS
Now, I find woman [ha-ishah / lit. 'the woman'] more bitter than death; she is all traps, her hands are fetters and her heart is snares. He who is pleasing to God escapes her, and he who is displeasing is caught by her.
NRSV
I found more bitter than death the woman who is a trap, whose heart is snares and nets...
(ט) רְאֵ֨ה חַיִּ֜ים עִם־אִשָּׁ֣ה אֲשֶׁר־אָהַ֗בְתָּ כׇּל־יְמֵי֙ חַיֵּ֣י הֶבְלֶ֔ךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָֽתַן־לְךָ֙ תַּ֣חַת הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֣י הֶבְלֶ֑ךָ כִּ֣י ה֤וּא חֶלְקְךָ֙ בַּֽחַיִּ֔ים וּבַעֲמָ֣לְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֥ה עָמֵ֖ל תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃
(9) Enjoy happiness with a woman you love all the fleeting days of life that have been granted to you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For that alone is what you can get out of life and out of the means you acquire under the sun.
(20) Wisdom cries aloud in the streets,
Raises her voice in the squares. (21) At the head of the busy streets she calls;
At the entrance of the gates, in the city, she speaks out: (22) “How long will you simple ones love simplicity,
You scoffers be eager to scoff,
You dullards hate knowledge? (23) You are indifferent to my rebuke;
I will now speak my mind to you,
And let you know my thoughts.
(33) But he who listens to me will dwell in safety,
Untroubled by the terror of misfortune.”
(ג) כִּ֤י נֹ֣פֶת תִּ֭טֹּפְנָה שִׂפְתֵ֣י זָרָ֑ה וְחָלָ֖ק מִשֶּׁ֣מֶן חִכָּֽהּ׃ (ד) וְֽ֭אַחֲרִיתָהּ מָרָ֣ה כַֽלַּעֲנָ֑ה חַ֝דָּ֗ה כְּחֶ֣רֶב פִּיּֽוֹת׃
(3) For the lips of a forbidden [Lit. “strange”] woman drip honey;
Her mouth is smoother than oil; (4) But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
(10) What a rare find is a capable wife [eishet hayil / sometimes translated 'woman of valor]!
Her worth is far beyond that of rubies. (11) Her husband puts his confidence in her,
And lacks no good thing.
(6) He calls many a man his loyal friend,
But who can find a faithful man?
Coming full circle--
And Rabbi Ḥanina said: Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven. Man has free will to serve God or not, as it is stated: “And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all of His ways, to love Him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The Lord asks man to perform these matters because ultimately, the choice is in his hands.
[Cited by Robert Gordis in his commentary to 7:29, see Crewnshaw p. 148]
(6) NRSV. With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words; but fear God.
Summary and Next Class
Kohelet v
9:13-18 Wasted Wisdom
10:1-20 Proverbs on Wisdom and Folly