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Reader-Response Criticism: A Study of Ecclesiastes 7:23–29

  • Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
  • Abbr : KJOTS
  • 2025, 31(4), pp.313~345
  • DOI : 10.24333/jkots.2025.31.4.313
  • Publisher : Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
  • Received : October 20, 2025
  • Accepted : November 22, 2025

Cha-Yong Ku 1

1주안대학원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study aims to introduce Reader-Response Criticism, a relatively unfamiliar interpretive method in Korean theological scholarship, and to explore its applicability to biblical interpretation. While Reader-Response Criticism is not the only valid method of interpretation, this paper argues that a competent reader’s close reading of the text can foster a productive dialogue with existing interpretive traditions, deepen exegetical engagement, and ultimately yield interpretations that resonate with the reader’s lived context. The paper proceeds as follows. First, it provides a general introduction to the basic concepts of Reader-Response Criticism, focusing on three key theoretical elements. The first concerns textual theory, which highlights communication between the real author and the implied reader, as well as between the actual reader and the implied author—a central concern of Reader-Response Criticism. The second element is the interpretive strategy of close reading by the competent reader, which constitutes the core of this approach. The third is the existential significance of the Word of God when read through the lens of Reader-Response Criticism, particularly its actualization in the present. Subsequently, the study presents the major theoretical contributions of Hans Robert Jauß, Wolfgang Iser, and Stanley Eugene Fish, outlining their key concepts and examining both the potential and the limitations of Reader-Response Criticism as a hermeneutical method. As a case study, this research applies the method to Ecclesiastes 7:23–29. The passage is first analyzed from the perspective of the competent reader, using close reading and consultation of Hebrew lexicons to formulate an initial interpretation. This is then carefully compared with interpretations offered by authoritative scholars. In this process, most of the initial reading is retained, though certain aspects are revised or refined as needed. Ecclesiastes 7:23–29 is considered one of the more difficult texts in the book, particularly due to the two statements concerning “the woman” in the middle of the passage. Through a careful structural analysis of this text, the study argues that the description of the woman serves as a warning: the human pursuit of wisdom can, at times, lead to death, and the results of such efforts remain humanly constructed, lying beyond the limits of human cognition.

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