Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes)

Lisa M. Wolfe is professor of Hebrew Bible, Endowed Chair, at Oklahoma City University (OCU) and also teaches for Saint Paul School of Theology, OCU campus. Lisa is ordained in the United Church of Christ and preaches and teaches regularly in the community and across the country. Her Bible study DVDs, “Uppity Women of the Bible,” and companion commentary Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs and Judith, were published in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In 2018 she received the Distinguished Faculty Award for the OCU Honors Program and the University Outstanding Faculty Award. Barbara E. Reid, general editor of the Wisdom Commentary series, is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies, and president emerita of Catholic Theological Union (the first woman who held the position). She has been a member of the CTU faculty since 1988 and also served as vice president and academic dean from 2009 to 2018. She holds a PhD in biblical studies from The Catholic University of America and was president of the Catholic Biblical Association in 2014–2015. Her most recent publications are Luke 1–9 and Luke 10–24, co-authored with Shelly Matthews (WCS 43A, 43B; Liturgical Press, 2021); and At the Table of Holy Wisdom: Global Hungers and Feminist Biblical Interpretation (Paulist, 2023).

"Lisa Wolfe is quick to acknowledge that the book of Qoheleth is not an easy read for feminists. Yet her ability to engage Qoheleth's questioning of orthodoxy with a feminist questioning of Qoheleth lays the groundwork for a rich commentary that uncovers ancient and modern religious absurdities about hierarchy, gender, and class. Through the process Wolfe begins to create a place in Qoheleth for women—both ancient and modern."Thomas B. Dozeman, Professor of Old Testament, United Theological Seminary

• ContentsAcknowledgments   ixList of Abbreviations   xiList of Contributors   xvForeword:  "Tell It on the Mountain" -or, "And You Shall Tell Your Daughter [as Well]"   xviiAthalya Brenner-IdanEditor's Introduction to Wisdom Commentary: "She Is a Breath of the Power of God" (Wis 7:25)   xxiBarbara E. Reid, OPAuthor's Introduction: A Feminist Toolbox for Interpreting Qoheleth   xliQoheleth 1:1-18   Learning Qoheleth's Language   1Qoheleth 2:1-26   A Test: Is Pleasure Hevel?   17Qoheleth 3:1-22   What Time?   37Qoheleth 4:1-5:20 [19]   From Hevel to Carpe Diem and Much in Between   63Qoheleth 6:1-7:14   Good, Better, Wise   83Qoheleth 7:15-29   On Wisdom and Women (or Woman Wisdom)   99Qoheleth 8:1-9:6   From Wisdom to Death   127Qoheleth 9:7-18    Carpe Diem and Related Imperatives   141Qoheleth 10:1-12:14   Closing Advice and Epilogue   151Afterword: Qoheleth as a Model for Feminist Hermeneutics   167Works Cited   173Index of Scripture References and Other Ancient Writings   185Index of Subjects   197