ZAW 2019; 131(4): 577–591 Nili Samet* How Deterministic is Qohelet? A New Reading of the Appendix to the Catalogue of Times https://doi.org/10.1515/zaw-2019-4004 The question of Qohelet’s attitude concerning determinism versus free will is a key-problem in interpreting this book and understanding its thought.1 Several passages in the book seem to betray a deterministic worldview, according to which humans have little to no influence on their divinely-preordained course of life. Chief among these is the so-called Catalogue of Times in 3:1‒8 which, along with its subsequent exegetical appendix, is often understood as Qohelet’s deter- ministic manifesto. Yet what precisely is the nature of this determinism, and to what extent does it deviate from the traditional free-will theology of the Bible? Scholars find it hard to agree on these questions. One school of exegetes believes that the Catalogue of Times denies any form of human free will. The catalogue argues that God has determined all events, actions and deeds in advance. Humans can neither predict these events nor control them in any way, because free will is nothing but an illusion.2 An alternative line of interpretation assumes that a softer approach towards human control over life is expressed here. According to this quasi-deterministic reading, the catalogue maintains that God has appointed different times that are 1 An extensive up-to-date discussion of determinism in Qohelet could be found in Dominick Rudman, Determinism in the book of Ecclesiastes (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001). 2 See e. g. Samuel D. Luzzatto, »Commentary on Qohelet,« in Ozar Nechmad: Briefe und Ab- handlungen, ed. Ignaz Blumenfeld (Vienna: Jacob Schlossberg’s Buchhandlung, 1863), 60; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, trans. Matthew G. Easton (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1877), 254 f.; Robert Gordis, Koheleth, the Man and His World (New York: Schocken, 1968), 228 f.; Michael V. Fox, Qohelet and his Contradictions (Sheffield: Sheffield Ac- ademic Press, 1989), 190‒196; Roland E. Murphy, Ecclesiastes, WBC 23A (Dallas: Word Books, 1992), 39. *Kontakt: Nili Samet, Bar-Ilan University, E-Mail: nilisamet@gmail.com Article note: I wish to express my thanks to Beit Shalom, Kyoto, Japan, for their generous support of this research. Authenticated | nilisamet@gmail.com author's copy Download Date | 12/1/19 9:23 AM