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 […]
Reflecting on the fate of the righteous and wicked alike—death—and how neither wisdom nor righteousness guarantees divine favor, the unpredictability of life is presented...
The Book of Ecclesiastes opens with a disturbing thesis: “Everything is pointless!” This first session introduces the genre of wisdom literature and the rhetorical...
Solomon confronts the painful paradoxes of righteousness and wickedness. The Sage (Teacher) observes that the righteous may die young while the wicked enjoy long...
