Introduction to Ecclesiastes (Barton)
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NAME
The name Ecclesiastes (Latin, Ecclesiastes, Greek Εκκλεσιαστες) is apparently a translation of the unique Hebrew word, Qoheleth. The meaning of this word is uncertain, but it probably signifies "one who addresses an assembly," or "an official speaker in an assembly," (see critical note on Eccl 1:1, where the various meanings which have been supposed to attach to the term are reviewed).
PLACE IN THE HEBREW BIBLE
In the Hebrew Bible Ecclesiastes stands in the third division of the canon among the Ketubim, or Hagiographa, where it now follows Lamentations and precedes Esther. It forms one of the so-called Megilloth, or "Rolls," the only parts of the Hagiography which were publicly read at the Jewish festivals. At what period Ecclesiastes was admitted to its present position is uncertain. In the list of books given in Baba Batra, 13, 14, the Megilloth are not even grouped together. Qoheleth is included, and it immediately follows Proverbs and precedes Canticles, as in our English Bibles. In the Talmudic treatise Soferim, which reached its final redaction about the middle of the eighth century, Ruth, Canticles, Lamentations and Esther are mentioned twice (14.3, 8)), but Ecclesiastes is omitted from both passages. (JE., XI, p. 427b and W. R. Smith, OT. in JC., 2d ed., p. i73n.) In the Mahzor, edited by Samuel of Vitry at the beginning of the twelfth century, it is said that at the feast of tabernacles the congregation, seated, read the "book" Ecclesiastes. It is not here called a "roll" and was, perhaps, not then included in the Megilloth. (Cf. JE., VIII, 429.) In the extant MSS. of the Bible the Megilloth are usually grouped together, though the order varies, especially in Spanish MSS. (Cf. the table in Ryle's Canon, 281ff.)
Soon after the twelfth century, apparently, the present order (Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes) was established in French and German MSS., and has been maintained ever since. Before the first printed editions of the Hebrew Bible were made, Ecclesiastes had, at all events, taken its present position as one of the five Megilloth. This is true of the first printed Hagiography, 1486-1487, as well as Bomberg's great Biblia Rabbinica of 1517, which contained three Targums and a Rabbinic commentary.
CANONICITY
See: Canonicity of Ecclesiastes
TEXT.
HISTORY OF THE INTERPRETATION.
See: History of the interpretation of Ecclesiastes
THE RELATION OF "QOHELETH" TO GREEK THOUGHT
See: The relation of Ecclesiastes to Greek thought
THE INTEGRITY OF ECCLESIASTES.
See: The integrity of Ecclesiastes
QOHELETH'S THOUGHT IN OUTLINE.
WAS QOHELETH WRITTEN IN METRICAL FORM?
See: Metrical form in Ecclesiastes
THE LINGUISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF QOHELETH.
(to do later)
THE RELATION OF ECCLESIASTES TO BEN SIRA
See: The relation of Ecclesiastes to Ben Sira
THE ATTITUDE OF THE BOOK OF WISDOM TO ECCLESIASTES.
See: The relation of Ecclesiastes to the Book of Wisdom
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP.
See: Authorship and date of Ecclesiastes
