Religious Redaction in Qohelet in Light of Mesopotamian Vanity Literature

A popular critical theory suggests that the epilogue of Qohelet, which recommends discipline and piety, is a later addition aimed at reconciling the unorthodox ideas of the book with conservative views. While this hypothesis is well-established on the basis of the text’s style and content, no extern...

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Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Samet, Nili (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
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Publié: Brill 2016
Dans: Vetus Testamentum
Année: 2016, Volume: 66, Numéro: 1, Pages: 133-148
Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés:B Bibel. Kohelet 12,9-14 / Alter Orient / Littérature sapientiale / Vanité / Rédaction
RelBib Classification:BC Religions du Proche-Orient ancien
HB Ancien Testament
Sujets non-standardisés:B Qohelet Mesopotamian and Biblical Wisdom Biblical criticism
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Édition parallèle:Non-électronique
Description
Résumé:A popular critical theory suggests that the epilogue of Qohelet, which recommends discipline and piety, is a later addition aimed at reconciling the unorthodox ideas of the book with conservative views. While this hypothesis is well-established on the basis of the text’s style and content, no external evidence to support it has ever been suggested. This paper seeks to present an empirical model for this redactional theory from a comparative point of view. It examines the development of the vanity theme in Mesopotamian literature, and shows that the subversive ideas of vanity literature gave rise, from the very beginning, to redactional activity focused on re-interpreting it in light of traditional values. Several examples of this process of conservative redaction are discussed, including Sumerian, Akkadian, and Akkadian-Biblical cases. The theory that the final verses of Qohelet are a later interpolation thus gains credibility in light of similar phenomena in Mesopotamian literature.
ISSN:1568-5330
Contient:In: Vetus Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685330-12301225