Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs for Everyone
Overview
In this volume, John Goldingay explores three books of the Old Testament in the wisdom literature genre. These three books are all associated with Solomon and his wisdom, yet unlike other books, they do not mention the Torah, the exodus, or the covenant. As Goldingay says, “The basis of their teaching is the way life actually works. They look at life and reflect on experience and encourage people to live on the basis of how life works.” Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs for Everyone explores three practical, down to earth, and hopeful books.
Top Highlights
“I said yes; I knew it was 65. But if we had been in Israel and we had been speaking Hebrew, I might have been less sure how to answer, because in biblical Hebrew, at least, the verb for ‘know’ often denotes not merely knowing something in your head but knowing something in your actions. To know the law or to know God implies not merely knowing what the law says or knowing God in a personal way but acknowledging the law or acknowledging God by one’s behavior—submitting to and obeying what one knows.” (Page 8)
“A key characteristic of Ecclesiastes is that it keeps saying things that you wouldn’t have thought a churchman would say, and it’s thus significant that it begins this way. The questions in Ecclesiastes are not the questions of an atheist or an agnostic. They are the questions of a believer who wants to keep faith honest.” (Page 177)
“She’s not someone in the sex trade but a woman who is lonely. She would settle for any lover but will give him the impression he’s the only one.” (Page 32)
“Churchman declares that God has put ‘permanence’ into our minds. The Hebrew word appears in the common expression ‘forever,’ but that expression can refer merely to a person’s lifetime rather than denoting something that lasts for eternity. Here, it suggests that God has put into our minds a yearning to understand the big picture about human life and about God’s activity in the world. Churchman implies that there is such a big picture; but from our position within the context of earthly life ‘under the sun,’ we cannot perceive what it is. All we see is the apparently random collocation of the contrasting activities that the poem describes. Fortunately, we know that God knows what the big picture is and that we can trust him for it.” (Pages 188–189)
- Title: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs for Everyone
- Author: John Goldingay
- Series: For Everyone Bible Study Guides
- Publishers: SPCK, Westminster John Knox
- Print Publication Date: 2014
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. O.T. Proverbs › Commentaries; Bible. O.T. Ecclesiastes › Commentaries; Bible. O.T. Song of Songs › Commentaries
- ISBNs: 9780664233853, 0664233856
- Resource ID: LLS:EVRY20PR
- Resource Type: Bible Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-12-18T20:37:26Z