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Kohelet
is disillusioned with life because he believes it is all in vain; he
abhors the idea of leaving his life’s work behind for someone else to
enjoy or to squander. Whereas all the great emperors and kings of old
strove to achieve eternal life by erecting grand monuments to themselves,
Kohelet understands that such attempts are illusory. He is therefore
forced to pose the elementary question: If I die anyway, why does
anything matter?
Kohelet’s
first word, however, is not his last.
For there are numerous passages in Ecclesiastes that move in the
opposite direction. They affirm, for example, the positive value of a
joyful life.3 The same Kohelet who appears to say so often that
“all is vanity” also exclaims that “there is nothing better than man
rejoicing,”4 and that “nothing is better for man under the
sun than to eat, drink, and be joyful.”5 Kohelet also exhorts
his fellow man to “Go, eat your bread with joy, drink your wine with a
content mind; for God has already graced your deeds.”6 These
bold affirmations of life echo almost word for word the maxim of
Solomon’s days, that brief flowering of Jewish renaissance: “
Judah
and
Israel
were as numerous as the sand by the sea
in multitude; eating and drinking and rejoicing.”7 Similar
verses can also be found that affirm the importance of action in this
world, as well as the acquisition of wisdom—verses that do not square
well with the belief that all is vanity. |
