Ecclesiastes - GA Barton - 1908.pdf

58
ECCLESIASTES
WISDOM. QOHELETH.
2 7 . Let us fill ourselves with 9 7 . Drink
thy wine with a glad
costly wine and ointments, and let heart,
no flowers of spring pass us by.
2. Let us crown/ourselves with 9. At all times let thy garments
rosebuds before they be withered. be white, and let not oil be lacking
for thy head.
2 9 . Let none of us be without a 3 22 . For that is his portion,
share in ^ur wanton revelry, every- 5 18 . For that is his lot.
whepe let us leave tokens of our 9 8 . For it is thy lot in life,
mifth, for this is our portion and
this is our lot.
As Qoheleth is the only Jewish writer known to us who cham-
pions such sentiments, there can be little doubt that this polemic
is directed against him. It is true that in the following verses the
author of Wisdom denounces oppressions which Qoheleth nowhere
countenances and couples them with these false doctrines; that
does not, however, prove that his shafts are not aimed at Qoheleth,
for it has in all ages been one of the methods of theological warfare
to hold the opinions of heretics responsible for the most immoral
practices.
13.
DATE AND AUTHORSHIP.
It has been shown above (5) that the Solomonic authorship of
Ecclesiastes, denied by Luther in the sixteenth century, and by
Grotius in the seventeenth, was in the nineteenth century demonstrated
by scholarly interpreters to be impossible. The fact that
Solomon is not the author, but is introduced in a literary figure, has
become such an axiom of the present-day interpretation of the
book, that no extended argument is necessary to it. prove No one
at all familiar with the course of religious thought in Israel, as sci-
entific historical study has accurately portrayed it, could for a
moment ascribe the work to Solomon. The language of the book
also strongly reinforces the argument drawn from the thought. It
belongs to the latest stage of linguistic development represented in
the Old Testament. As shown above (10) not only are older
Hebrew forms and constructions changed or confused, but late
developments kindred to those of the Mishna are present, Aramaic