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The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries
Ecclesiastes
Good advice that stands the test of time--those things we all know are true, tips that help us live the good life--we call wisdom. But, one lifetime is not enough to master the fine art of living. Distilled over centuries, the biblical book of Ecclesiastes offers us the time-tested advice of Israel's sages. This is the best of wisdom, with echoes of East and West--from Zen and Tao to Merton and Moore--all rolled into one.
In Ecclesiastes, Bible scholar Choon-Leong Seow creatively translates and carefully interprets one of the world's most profound, most enduring collections of ancient wisdom. Sometimes joyful and exultant, other times cynical and fatalistic, the ancient author Qohelet ("Teacher") wrestles with the ups and downs of real life. Even today, we recognize and repeat the sayings of this treasure-trove of apt advice. The book begins and ends with the infamous claim, "Vanity of vanities, says Qohelet, vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" In between, the sage leaves no stone unturned in the search for meaning. As the wisdom of biblical Ecclesiastes has stood the test of time, so shall Dr. Seow's Ecclesiastes become a classic in the venerated tradition of the Anchor Bible series.
In Ecclesiastes, Bible scholar Choon-Leong Seow creatively translates and carefully interprets one of the world's most profound, most enduring collections of ancient wisdom. Sometimes joyful and exultant, other times cynical and fatalistic, the ancient author Qohelet ("Teacher") wrestles with the ups and downs of real life. Even today, we recognize and repeat the sayings of this treasure-trove of apt advice. The book begins and ends with the infamous claim, "Vanity of vanities, says Qohelet, vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" In between, the sage leaves no stone unturned in the search for meaning. As the wisdom of biblical Ecclesiastes has stood the test of time, so shall Dr. Seow's Ecclesiastes become a classic in the venerated tradition of the Anchor Bible series.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 1, 2015
The most essential Ecclesiastes commentary. Seow's is the best commentary for digging into the Hebrew and understanding the text itself. He does a great job interacting with other wisdom literature of the ancient near east. I found this essential since it appears that the author of Ecclesiastes is in part a polemic and a subversion of other wisdom traditions.
The introduction is very valuable and owning this book is almost worth it for the introduction alone. Seow makes a strong case for locating Ecclesiastes in the Persian period during a time of economic prosperity contra Barthlomew's who places it later and finds Ecclesiastes interacting with Greek philosophy. At times Seow bases a little too much of his interpretation on this premise which, while well thought out, is by no means certain.
While I think Seow's commentary is essential for anyone studying Ecclesiastes, I do not think it is the best commentary (that is reserved for Bartholomew's commentary). Seow never develops a overarching theme for Ecclesiastes. He is superb on the details but lacking in the big picture. Perhaps this is wise since the part of the point of Ecclesiastes is to draw the reader into his journey. However, Seow approaches Ecclesiastes canonically and as a coherent work.
The introduction is very valuable and owning this book is almost worth it for the introduction alone. Seow makes a strong case for locating Ecclesiastes in the Persian period during a time of economic prosperity contra Barthlomew's who places it later and finds Ecclesiastes interacting with Greek philosophy. At times Seow bases a little too much of his interpretation on this premise which, while well thought out, is by no means certain.
While I think Seow's commentary is essential for anyone studying Ecclesiastes, I do not think it is the best commentary (that is reserved for Bartholomew's commentary). Seow never develops a overarching theme for Ecclesiastes. He is superb on the details but lacking in the big picture. Perhaps this is wise since the part of the point of Ecclesiastes is to draw the reader into his journey. However, Seow approaches Ecclesiastes canonically and as a coherent work.
March 10, 2022
The first commentary I've ever read cover to cover, and difficult to rate, especially as Seow's knowledge is so much vaster than mine. The attention to the detail in this book is remarkable and the linguistic analysis is really very helpful (in the times it didn't go over my head). As with many commentaries, it would have been nice to have a few more concrete conclusions drawn, but I appreciate this probably wasn't his aim.
January 7, 2018
Overall a very interesting commentary into Ecclesiastes, as to be expected from the Yale Anchor Bible Commentaries (this was my first foray into that). Seow starts off with a very nice overview of the time in which the book was written, as well as what 'wisdom literature' in the Ancient Near East consisted of. He then gives his own translation of the book itself, and discusses each word pretty thoroughly in the note section. Then, finally, he adds commentary on that, trying to draw it back to what Qohelet would have actually meant with what he said, making it a historical commentary and not really pushing modern interpretations or exogesis onto it. He discusses various other theories for each passage, which is a great way to find more reading if you're interested, and he talks about translations and where some other translations fail. Overall, a very interesting commentary into Ecclesiastes and, more general, wisdom literature.
September 9, 2021
My favourite commentary on this OT book. I have first heard about it from Meredith M. Kline, who is the author of notes on this book in the New Geneva Study Bible, and did his PhD on Ecclesiastes.
His approach is that Qoheleth is a realist.
His liberal tendencies (third-Isaiah etc) don't colour his exegesis, same as his dating (Persian).
His approach is that Qoheleth is a realist.
His liberal tendencies (third-Isaiah etc) don't colour his exegesis, same as his dating (Persian).
November 6, 2024
For technical work, this is essential, especially for such a perplexing book with some challenging syntax at times. However, this is a critical commentary, so keep that in mind.
For the motivated pastor with the ability to have 2-3 commentaries on the book, this could helpful.
For the motivated pastor with the ability to have 2-3 commentaries on the book, this could helpful.
August 18, 2020
Incredibly helpful and clear. From an orthodox scholar with an extremely insightful reading of this book.
Want to read
July 30, 2012I just started this book, but a few pages into it shows me that my first read will miss many details because of my lack of knowledge of ancient Hebrew. When and if I am able to continue with my higher education in languages and literature, I hope to learn ancient Hebrew. When I have learned more of this language, I will be re-reading this. What I can understand of this book is interesting, but a full review will have to wait until further into the future.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews