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Qoheleth's Preservation and Innovation of the Hebrew Wisdom Tradition in the Period of the Early Hellenism

Keun Jo Ahn 1

1호서대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to pursue the origin of the revolutionary voice of the Qoheleth who seems to be against traditional teachings of Hebrew wisdom literature. This study shows that Qoheleth's innovative ideas and critical attitude do not derive from the external influences of the early Hellenism in the third century or Ancient Near Eastern culture in the previous ages. Instead, Ecclesiastes is a result of innate pious efforts of the Qoheleth in which the sage(s) integrate original traditions of Hebrew wisdom with the new ideas of Hellenistic philosophy. This paper first summarizes historical circumstance in the third century C.E. when the Greek Ptolemy Empire ruled the Levant. To the contrary to our initial thought, an inevitable clash between Hellenism and Judaism did not transpire a conflict in this period. For the Greek rulers, a peculiar religious tradition of a colony in the empire was not of significant importance. It was not a threat to their rule because it was just one of diverse cultures in their world. Also, for Jews, Hellenistic culture did not cause a serious problem as far as their religious customs and rituals were kept to be taken place in their life. Even some Jews eagerly welcomed and followed new style of Hellenistic life because of her rationality and convenience. Hellenism, to be sure, broadened their perspectives and guaranteed wealth and new knowledge. Next, Martin Hengel's discussion is introduced to demonstrate how far the idea and attitude of Qohelth went from traditional teachings of Hebrew sages. Hengel points out six new features of Qoheleth, which were not a part of Hebrew tradition: 1. individualism; 2. the use of divine name, ha Elohim rather than Yahweh; 3. critical attitude toward traditional doctrines; 4. skepticism; 5. determinism; 6. lessons on Carpe Diem. This paper claims that these characteristics of Qoheleth are the result of energetic efforts of preservation and innovation of sages who had kept open mindset. Even they utilized the concepts and methods of Hellenistic philosophy to express better their own Hebrew faith. This tendency of acceptance and adaptation was not new but original for sages since they had preserved intellectual tradition of their religion throughout the history of Israelite and Jewish people. The study of this paper proves that Qoheleth's teachings are still in the tradition of Hebrew wisdom literature and even innovative development of new wisdom through which Hebrew faith of Yahwism survived in the face of universal and pluralistic values Hellenistic worldview. Furthermore, we can observe the crucial role of sages in the preservation and innovation of their religious tradition.

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