This book is my side of such a discussion, and although it is obviously not a real dialogue between us, the conversation is not one sided. This exposition responds to the views to earlier commentators by selectively continuing their ideas, building on them, rejecting them, reshaping them, replacing them, and supplementing them with idea of my own.
Biblical scholar Michael V. Fox seeks to address the complexities and so-called “absurdities” of Ecclesiastes, or “Qohelet,” the Hebrew word for the preacher. He focuses not on resolving the contradictions, but on seeing them as part of the overall structure and meaning of the book.
Fox takes as his starting point the issues that Quoheleth's interpreters have faced in their efforts to render the book faithfully, and in so doing, provides a new analysis of Quoheleth's reasoning, logic, and means of expression. Fox reaches three key conclusions about the work: Quoheleth is primarily concerned with the rationality of existence; Quoheleth is not against wisdom or the wise, and…