Elaine Wei-Fun Goh - Cross-Textual Reading of Ecclesiastes with the Analects: In Search of Political Wisdom in a Disordered World

In Search of Political Wisdom in a Disordered World

Elaine Wei-Fun Goh

Foreword by Choon-Leong Seow

T here is probably no book in the Bible whose authority is as frequently called into question as Ecclesiastes. Its place as a document of the community of faith was disputed from the start. The rabbis of antiquity sought to remove it from circulation, partly because it seemed to be internally inconsistent and partly because they feared it might lead to heresy. Even though it did win approval as an inspired work at the famous gathering of rabbis at Jamnia in CE, questions about its suitability for the general public continued to be raised for centuries thereafter. So Jerome reported in the fourth century that there were still some who tried to suppress it in his time. In the modern period, too, the book is more often than not viewed as one that stands at the periphery of the canon, at best a voice of protest.

Scholarly debates have continued to revolve around the tensions within the book and its apparent heterodoxy, and assessments of it have remained wildly contrastive. One interpreter argues that the authorknown by his Hebrew pen-name, Qohelethwas a depressed workaholic, while another calls him a preacher of joy. A majority of commentators regard the author as an unrelenting pessimist, constantly proclaiming that all is vanity (:), while others portray him as an unflappable optimist, who maintains that there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry (:). To explain the teachings of the book that seem idiosyncratic in light of the rest of the Bible, critics have argued that the author was influenced by skeptical traditions from Mesopotamia or Egypt or that his thoughts were shaped by various Greek philosophical schools. His perspectives are usually accounted for in terms of his intellectual backgroundmost notably the putative foreign influencesor his personal disposition and predilection. Thus, Qoheleth is said to have been either a pessimist or an optimist because of his training and/or simply because that was the way he was.

For all its difficulty, Ecclesiastes, especially in its opening poem about the cyclical nature of the world and its element (:), seems to resonate for many Asians. In fact, at the end of the nineteenth century, a scholar by the name of Emile Joseph Dillon found so many similarities between Ecclesiastes and Buddhism that he argued that Ecclesiastes reflects a Buddhist influence. That theory is far-fetched, and hardly any scholar has followed Dillons lead. Still, it is true that in Ecclesiastes, many Asian Christians will find much that is relevant, even inspiring.

In this book, Dr. Elaine Wei-Fun Goh introduces Chinese readers to the fascinating book of Ecclesiastes and its message for Asian Christians today. Dr. Gohs interpretation is deep and meaningful, for it is informed by the ancient world from which Ecclesiastes emerged. She draws on similar texts from elsewhere in the ancient Near East, and she reads the book against its sociohistorical backgrounda world of economic and political uncertainty that in some ways we find similar to our own world. Additionally, Dr. Goh brings Ecclesiastes to life for Asians by reading it cross-culturally, bringing the biblical text into conversation with classic Chinese literature. The result is a rich and exciting introduction to one of the best kept secrets of Old Testament Theology.

Choon-Leong Seow

Vanderbilt University

December , 2018