Determinism in the Book of Ecclesiastes

(Hardback)

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Qoheleth's determinism, its relationship to free will and its philosophical background evidence its authorship by a third-century sage influenced by Stoic ideas. Is the author of Ecclesisastes a determinist Many readers, from the Targumist and lbn Ezra up to the present day, have thought so. But there has been no systematic investigation of Qoheleth's determinism, its nature and extent, its relationship to free will and its philosophical background. In separate chapters, Rudman discusses key terms and texts that express a deterministic worldview, then explores the sources for Qoheleth's thought. He concludes that the author was a sage writing in the third quarter of the third century BCE, who was profoundly influenced by Stoic ideas.

Reviews

"Rudman is a true linguist with competency in both Semitic languages and the classics...The scope and breadth of ancient Near Eastern, biblical, postbiblical Jewish, early Christian, and classical literature cited are astounding." --Journal of Biblical Literature, Fall 2002
"This volume is well written, carefully argued and makes a worthwhile contribution to the field." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, June 2009 -- C. Hempel * Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *

Author Bio

Dominic Rudman is Leverhulme Special Research Fellow, Department of Theology, University of Exeter.