What does wisdom look like in the face of injustice, especially when authority is abused? To answer this perplexing question, Solomon’s reflects on human power, submission to authority, and the sobering limits of human understanding. Solomon offers guidance for interacting wisely with rulers, knowing when to speak and when to remain silent. Yet even the wise cannot predict the future or control the day of their death. Four illustrations are presented of human powerlessness and the troubling reality that wicked people often flourish while the righteous suffer. Still, amid this confusing dilemma, Solomon breaks his method of empirical observation to […]
The Book of Ecclesiastes opens with a disturbing thesis: “Everything is pointless!” This first session introduces the genre of wisdom literature and the rhetorical...
The “Sage” (Qoheleth) observes that everything in life—sunrise, wind, rivers—follows an exhausting, unchanging cycle. This session explores how Solomon’s existential reflection challenges the illusion...
Solomon lays out a series of paradoxical proverbs that challenge our assumptions about what’s truly good. This session walks through counterintuitive truths—like mourning being...
