Michael V. Fox

An excellent analysis of Ecclesiastes, making sense of the message within the context of Near Eastern wisdom literature yet displaying the Preacher's developments and difficulties.

This book is designed for those who have a working knowledge of Hebrew and a fairly decent handle on scholarly terms and concepts. The first section of the book is Fox's discussion of key terms and concepts in the book, the Preacher's contradictions, his understanding of wisdom, and the essential meaning of the show more book. The second section is Fox's translation and commentary on the Hebrew text, with additional discussions of the role of the epilogist, the meaning of the "times" in Ecclesiastes 3 and the meaning of Ecclesiastes 12:2-7.

I appreciate how Prof. Fox tries to make the best sense of the text as it is and the message as presented; emendations are reserved for the times when the Hebrew seems nonsensical or ungrammatical. His perspective on the Preacher is refreshing-- he does not see the Preacher as being antagonistic toward wisdom, but instead is working out his dismay at the ultimate absurdity of life, justice, the pursuit of pleasure, and so on in a world where everyone dies regardless.

Prof. Fox also makes many intriguing connections between the Preacher's message and perspective with modern existentialism, making many parallels between Ecclesiastes and Camus, especially The Myth of Sisyphus. While Fox does show that there is not precise parallelism between the two, it would seem that the Preacher has come upon a version of existentialism long before our own day. The translation of "hebel" as "absurd" is well-defended and reflects the Preacher's idea much better than "vanity," the common translation in English.

A most excellent resource that should be considered in any study of any depth into Ecclesiastes. show less

After reading some of the more big name commentaries on Ecclesiastes, Fox's commentary is the best. Yes, he is thorough, he implements great sources and interacts with other scholars, but what makes his commentary so great is his ability to see overarching themes and piece things together in a meaningful way. He has become one of my favorite Old Testament scholars.

An excellent analysis of ancient Egyptian love songs and the Song of Songs (=Song of Solomon, Canticles).

Fox presents his translations and comments on ancient Egyptian love songs and the Song of Songs. He compares and contrasts them, showing how they are part of the same genre yet reflect many differences based on distinctions in culture. He addresses the time, setting, and cultural contexts of the Egyptian love songs and the Song of Songs, along with societal function, the literary themes show more present, and how love and sexuality are expressed in them. The appendices include images from Egypt relevant to the love songs, an Egyptian concordance for the love songs, and the transcription of the Egyptian texts.

This is an excellent book demonstrating the larger ancient Near Eastern context for both the love songs and the Song of Solomon. While some of Fox's conclusions about dating and individual translation decisions could be challenged, his overall presentation of the parallels between the Egyptian songs and the Song of Solomon is sound and worthy of consideration.

An important work in contexualizing the Song of Songs and to better understand what it is designed to reflect-- the rhapsodizing of young love. show less

"The contradictions in the book of Qohelet are real and intended. We must interpret them, not eliminate them" (3).

With these words, Fox jumps into the deep. He understands the mind of the torn and at times self-contradictory Qohelet—and admires him.

Fox has a masterful command of the ancient Hebrew language. He is a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Wisconsin, and has written for the Jewish Publication Society. Let's just say that he knows his stuff.

This book is approximately show more half introduction and half commentary. The essays in the introduction cover a broad variety of topics critical to understanding the Qohelet such as Wisdom, Toil, Justice, and (most importantly) Hebel—Meaningless. These chapters are an excellent resource to turn to when you want to brush up on the various topics.

This is a difficult book to read, especially for those (like myself) with a tenuous grasp on Ancient Hebrew. However, a slow thoughtful reading will benefit anyone with basic theological training. At times I felt like I was struggling to keep my head above the water when following his arguments, but in the end the effort was well worth it. This book will have more to offer on subsequent re-readings, I'm sure.

In sum: this is a scholarly, Jewish, post-modern interpretation of one of the most neglected books in the canon. If you have time to devote, this book rewards richly. show less