Analysis Of Ecclesiastes 3

In this assignment I will discuss the theological construction of Ecclesiastes 3 with focus on verses 1 to 15 which is on the topic of time. I have not included verse 16 to 22 here as from verse 16 onward Qohelet introduces his new topic on judgement in a typical manner by using “I saw something” signaling another reflection. Although he mentions in v. 17 “a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed”, I do not see any significant connection of these verses with verses 1 to 15.
In discerning the theology of Ecclesiastes, I note that within the book that there are tensions which are multiplicity of competing speaking voices with different ideologies. Perdue mentions that “earlier examinations of wisdom theology have approach the task through four major organizing principles: anthropology, cosmology, theodicy and the dialectic of anthropology and cosmology.” …show more content…
Verse 7 reads, “a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak.” In the Old Testament, when people mourned the death of a loved one they tore their clothing and kept silent. When the period of mourning was over, ordinary conversations of the day could continue. This reminds us that there are appropriate and inappropriate times to talk. The final lines of this poem occur in 3:8. This set of verses has to do with affections and their consequences. Qohelet writes, “a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” All these are Qohelet observations of human live experience under the sun.
The internal parallelism of the previous six verses is in the final line of 3:8. This is probably due to a desire to end on a positive note—peace rather than war. It seems to proclaim the conventional messages of Qohelet, and incidentally of contemporary Stoic philosophers that we have the resources and knowledge required to exercise control over our lives by doing things at the right