Ecclesiastes - GA Barton - 1908.pdf

PUNY MAN AGAINST FATE [Cn. 6 10-"
Essenes, as to how far fate controls the actions of men,
137
the Phari-
sees contending that it controls some of their actions, the Sadducees
that it controls none of them, and the Essenes that it controls all
(see Jos. Ant. xiii, 5"; xviii, i 3 4 and BJ. ii, 8 14
).
To what ex-
tent these disputes were carried on as early as the time of Qoheleth,
however, we do not know. We cannot clearly trace the sects
mentioned in his time. Qoheleth maintains that man is so power-
less against his Creator that discussion of the matter is futile.
What advantage has man], in his powerless position. 12.
Who knows what is good for man]. The positive question is a
negative assertion. No one knows what is really good, for power,
possessions, sensual enjoyment, and wisdom have been shown to
be vanity. The number of the days of his vain life]. This reminds
the reader of the verdict on life which Qoheleth has repeatedly
reached. Like a shadow]. The thought that human life is as
unsubstantial as a shadow finds expression several times in the
cites an
OT., as i Ch. 2Q 15
Job 8 9 Ps. io2 n and I44 4 . PL
expression of the same sentiment from Sophocles:
In this I see that we, all we that live,
Are but vain shadows, unsubstantial dreams.
(Ajax, 127 /.}
The thought expressed by Qoheleth is rather that human life flits
Job 14* Ps.
shall be after him]. The uncertainty of the future
like a shadow. It is more nearly akin to ch. 8 13
log 23 . What
creates a part of the difficulty of telling what is good for man.
6 10 . *VJ>N], i.e., what sort of creature man is, cf. Ex. i4 13 . Perhaps, as
Ty. thought, the words were 3
shaped by a reminiscence of Gn. 6 , NVi OJBO
-ifca. Dy jnS], used in the sense of an, occurs only here EDB.
(cf.
I92b), though fi"U="be at strife," occurs in 2 S. 19' . The nearest
parallel is in Gn. 6 3 , though there probably the original reading
did not
contain fi'T (cf. BDS. i92b). Ty. thought this text an allusion to
Gn. If that had been corrupted into its present form by the time Q.
wrote, perhaps Ty. was right. *^pnnip], Qr. *i>pna> is probably, as
Dr. conjectures (in Kit.'s BH.), a corruption of rppn Nine*, cf. hny mr\&
ch. 2M . Some have taken the Kt. as a Hiph., but that is not so probable,
as elsewhere its Hiph. does not occur in Heb. *VP, n] is an Aramaism,
cf. Dn. 2 40 - 42 3 33 and the cognate Syr. 11. onai] was taken by Kn.
and Gins, as "things," as (I takes it, but d, &, U and A, which render it