Ecclesiastes - GA Barton - 1908.pdf

CANONICITY 5
peareth for a little time and then vanisheth away" (ch. 4"). Such parallels
are, however, too vague to be convincing. Neither writer may
have been thinking of Qoheleth at all. Haupt believes that Jesus alludes
to Ecclesiastes with the purpose of combating its sentiments in the par-
able of the rich man who pulled down his barns to build greater,
Lk. I2 16-21 . He sees in Lk. i2 18 an allusion to Eccl. 2 4 and in i2 20b , to
Eccl. 2 18b . Again, the allusions are too vague to be convincing. The
view of J. Rendel Harris, that the parable is an elaboration of BS. 5 lff
,
is much more probable. Haupt also holds that Lk. i2 27 =Matt. 6 29 ,
(Solomon in all his glory} is "above all" an allusion to Ecclesiastes, but
again one must say that the likeness is not convincing. It is quite as probable
that the account of Solomon in i Kings was in the mind of Jesus.
Philo, like the New Testament, makes no reference to Qoheleth,
but, as in the case of the .New Testament, no argument is to be
drawn from this silence, as he makes no reference to a number of
other books Ezekiel, Daniel, Canticles, Ruth and Lamentations.
The suggestion made above, that Qoheleth was in some quarters
regarded as canonical, but was not universally received, receives
confirmation from one or two famous passages in the Mishna,
which reached its final form about 200 A.D. In the terminology
of the Mishna the way of calling a book canonical is to say that it
''defiles the hands." In the Tract Yadaim, 3*, we read: "All the
Holy Scriptures defile the hands. The Song of Songs and Qohe-
leth defile the hands. Rabbi Judah says, 'The Song of Songs
defiles the hands, but Koheleth is disputed.' Rabbi Jose says,
'
Qoheleth does not defile the hands, and the Song of Songs is
'
disputed.' Rabbi Simeon says, Qoheleth belongs to the light
things of the school of Shammai, but to the weighty things of the
school of Hillel.' Rabbi Simeon ben Azzai says, 'I received from
the mouth of the seventy-two elders on the day when they placed
Rabbi Eliezer ben Azariah in the president's chair, that the Song
of Songs and Qoheleth defile the hands.' Rabbi Aqiba said, 'Far
be it and peace! No man of Israel has ever doubted concerning
the Song of Songs that it defiled the hands, for there is not a day
in all the world like the day on which the Song of Songs was given
to Israel, because all the K e tubim are holy, but the Song of Songs
is most holy. And if they had doubts, they only doubted con-
cerning Qoheleth. ,' Rabbi Johanan, son of Joshua,
son of the