• Follow Your Heart and Do Not Say it was a Mistake: Qoheleth’s Allusions to Numbers 15 and the Story of the Spies

    Author(s):
    Will Kynes (see profile)
    Date:
    2014
    Subject(s):
    Wisdom literature, Intertextuality
    Item Type:
    Book chapter
    Tag(s):
    Biblical Intertextuality, Book of Ecclesiastes, Book of Numbers
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/9ep9-g810
    Abstract:
    Ecclesiastes 11:9 is a microcosm of the interpretive problems that plague the interpretation of the book. Put more positively, the voices which clash in this verse are the same which call readers inexorably back to be lost in their seemingly endless dialogue. First, Qoheleth’s joy declares, “Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes” (11:9a). Immediately, Qoheleth’s piety responds, “But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment” (11:9b). But is this Qoheleth’s voice, or that of a pious redactor? Either way, in the juxtaposition of permissiveness and piety, we hear Qoheleth’s pessimism, as well. How can the young enjoy their lives if they know they will be judged for those very actions? Though Qoheleth does not declare it so, surely this is hevel as well.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Book chapter     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.5040/9780567659125.ch-002
    Publisher:
    Bloomsbury T&T Clark
    Pub. Date:
    2014-11-6
    Book Title:
    Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually
    Author/Editor:
    Katharine Dell and Will Kynes
    Chapter:
    2
    Page Range:
    15 - 27
    ISBN:
    9780567659125
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    11 months ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved

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