Ecclesiastes 5

Ecclesiastes 5
Ecclesiastes 5
← chapter 4 chapter 6 →
	A handwritten Hebrew scroll of Ecclesiastes by the scribe Elihu Shannon of Kibbutz Saad, Israel (c. 2005)
Book	Book of Ecclesiastes
Category	Ketuvim
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	21

Ecclesiastes 5 is the fifth chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.^[1]^[2] The book contains philosophical speeches by a character called '(the) Qoheleth' (="the Teacher"), composed probably between the 5th to 2nd century BCE.^[3] Peshitta, Targum, and Talmud attribute the authorship of the book to King Solomon.^[4] This chapter contains the advice on how to approach God the right way, and the discussion about poverty and wealth.^[5]

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 20 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[6]^[a] Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls 4QQoh^a (4Q109; 175-150 BCE; extant verses 13-17).^[8]^[9]^[10]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\mathfrak {G}}$ ^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\mathfrak {G}}$ ^S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\mathfrak {G}}$ ^A; 5th century).^[11] The Greek text is probably derived from the work of Aquila of Sinope or his followers.^[3]

Structure

New King James Version grouped the chapter:

Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 = Fear God, Keep Your Vows
Ecclesiastes 5:8–20 = The Vanity of Gain and Honor

The approach to God (5:1–7)

The lack of solution in chapter 4 on the theme of companionship leads the reader to think whether God is the answer, and this part shows how to approach God in the right way.^[5]

Verse 7

For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.^[12]

"Fear God" here is in the literal sense,^[13] just as respect and awe before God can be found to be central values in wisdom literature.^[14]

The poor under oppressive bureaucracy (5:8–9)

Qoheleth points to the frustration of the poor facing delays to obtain justice due to oppressive bureaucracy and tiers of hierarchy.^[5] "He that is higher than the highest regardeth" (KJV), from Hebrew גבה מעל גבה שמר ḡā-ḇō-ah mê-‘al ḡā-ḇō-ah shō-mêr,,^[15] is also translated as "the high official is watched by a higher" (NRSV), not referring to an official of any government bureaucracy, but rather ambitious people who strive to be higher than others.^[14] However, there will always people higher than those,^[14] ultimately pointing to God as the highest one.^[13]

The Problems and Inadequacies of Wealth (5:10–20)

This section starts by stating three concise points about financial greed (verses 10–12): the lover of money never have enough; increasing resources will result in bigger financial commitments; more wealth causes less peace.^[13] The rich man could not pass any of the wealth to their offsprings (verse 14) nor take anything to the next life (verse 15).^[5] The whole passage of 5:8 to 6:9 is arranged as such that the outer sections will point to the center at verse 20.^[14] Qoheleth reiterates his earlier conclusion that God's gift is the ability to find enjoyment in the wealth,^[13] which keep humans occupied in life,^[5] so that "they should not much call to mind the days of their lives".^[16]

Verse 20

For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.^[17]

As God gives joy to people as the antidote to their obsessions, people should not think too much ahead but to enjoy the present.^[16]

Notes

^ Since 1947 the whole book is missing from Aleppo Codex.^[7]

References

^ Halley 1965, p. 275.
^ Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
^ ^a ^b Weeks 2007, p. 423.
^ Jastrow, Morris; Margoliouth, David Samuel (1901–1906). "Ecclesiastes, Book of". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Eaton 1994, p. 614.
^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
^ P. W. Skehan (2003), "BIBLE (TEXTS)", New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 355–362
^ Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill. pp. 746. ISBN 9789004181830. Retrieved May 15, 2017. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
^ Dead sea scrolls - Ecclesiastes.
^ Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008). A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 43. ISBN 9780802862419. Retrieved February 15, 2019. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
^ Ecclesiastes 5:7 NKJV
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Weeks 2007, p. 425.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Coogan 2007, p. 949 Hebrew Bible.
^ Hebrew Text Analysis: Ecclesiastes 5:8. Biblehub
^ ^a ^b Coogan 2007, p. 950 Hebrew Bible.
^ Ecclesiastes 5:20 ESV

Sources

Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288810. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Eaton, Michael A. (1994). "Ecclesiastes". In Carson, D. A.; France, R. T.; Motyer, J. A.; Wenham, G. J. (eds.). New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (4, illustrated, reprint, revised ed.). Inter-Varsity Press. pp. 609–618. ISBN 9780851106489. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Halley, Henry H. (1965). Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary (24th (revised) ed.). Zondervan Publishing House. ISBN 0-310-25720-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Weeks, Stuart (2007). "20. Ecclesiastes". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 423–429. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

Jewish translations:
- Kohelet – Ecclesiastes - Chapter 5 (Judaica Press) translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
Christian translations:
- Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 King James Version
Ecclesiastes public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions

[8] Since 1947 the whole book is missing from Aleppo Codex.^[7]

[FOOTNOTEHalley1965275-1] Halley 1965, p. 275.

[Holman-2] Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

[FOOTNOTEWeeks2007423-3] Weeks 2007, p. 423.

[4] Jastrow, Morris; Margoliouth, David Samuel (1901–1906). "Ecclesiastes, Book of". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

[FOOTNOTEEaton1994614-5] Eaton 1994, p. 614.

[FOOTNOTEWürthwein199535–37-6] Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.

[nce2-bible-7] P. W. Skehan (2003), "BIBLE (TEXTS)", New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 355–362

[9] Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill. pp. 746. ISBN 9789004181830. Retrieved May 15, 2017. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

[10] Dead sea scrolls - Ecclesiastes.

[11] Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008). A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 43. ISBN 9780802862419. Retrieved February 15, 2019. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

[FOOTNOTEWürthwein199573–74-12] Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.

[13] Ecclesiastes 5:7 NKJV

[FOOTNOTEWeeks2007425-14] Weeks 2007, p. 425.

[FOOTNOTECoogan2007949_Hebrew_Bible-15] Coogan 2007, p. 949 Hebrew Bible.

[16] Hebrew Text Analysis: Ecclesiastes 5:8. Biblehub

[FOOTNOTECoogan2007950_Hebrew_Bible-17] Coogan 2007, p. 950 Hebrew Bible.

[18] Ecclesiastes 5:20 ESV

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