Ecclesiastes 9

Ecclesiastes 9
Saint Finbarre's Cathedral chairs inscribed with the first half of Ecclesiastes 9:10. This portion of the verse is also the open motto of Theta Tau.
BookBook of Ecclesiastes
CategoryKetuvim
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part21

Ecclesiastes 9 is the ninth chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] The book contains the philosophical and theological reflections of a character known as Qoheleth, a title literally meaning "the assembler" but traditionally translated as "the Teacher" or "The Preacher".[3] The identity of Qoheleth it unknown. In traditional Jewish texts such as the Peshitta, Targum, and Talmud, authorship of Ecclesiastes is attributed to King Solomon, due to the statement in Ecclesiastes 1:1 which identifies Qoheleth as the "son of David, king in Jerusalem".[4] However, it is generally agreed upon by contemporary scholars that the book could not have been written in the 10th century during the time of Solomon.[5] It is now thought to be one of the latest books in the Old Testament to be written, likely sometime between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE.[6]

This chapter brings together some of the book's major themes, namely the shared fate of death, the importance of enjoyment in the midst of an unpredictable world, and the value of wisdom.[6]

  1. ^ Halley 1965, p. 275.
  2. ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
  3. ^ Coogan, Michael David (3 July 2017). The Old Testament : a historical and literary introduction to the Hebrew scriptures. Chapman, Cynthia R., 1964- (Fourth ed.). New York, NY. ISBN 978-0-19-060865-1. OCLC 966274585.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Public Domain Jastrow, Morris; Margoliouth, David Samuel (1901–1906). "Ecclesiastes, Book of". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  5. ^ Whybray, R. N. (Roger Norman) (1997). Ecclesiastes. Society for Old Testament Study. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-567-19394-0. OCLC 747013279.
  6. ^ a b Sibley Towner, W. (1997). Ecclesiastes, New Interpreter's Bible Vol. 5. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.