0. Welcome and Opening Question
What kind(s) of Wisdom does a political leader need to have?
Explanation for the title of this class.
Reflections of Kohelet: Senator Joe Lieberman ע״ה
Washington Post, Thursday, March 28, 2024
Obituaries: Joseph Lieberman, senator and vice-presidential nominee, dies at 82
“Mr. Lieberman announced in early 2011 that he would not seek reelection the next year. By way of explanation, he invoked Ecclesiastes. It was, he said, “time for another season and another purpose under heaven.” He dismissed poor political prospects as a factor. He conceded that he faced a difficult campaign but added, “So what else is new?””
(1) A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven.
King James Version
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Ecclesiastes-Chapter-3/
חפץ/ 'experience' can also be understood as 'matter' or 'purpose.'
(9) Only that shall happen
Which has happened,
Only that occur
Which has occurred;
There is nothing new
Beneath the sun! (10) Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us. (11) The earlier ones are not remembered; so too those that will occur later will no more be remembered than those that will occur at the very end.
Plan for This Class
Selection: Kohelet 9:11-10:20
- Questions
- Text - Initial Responses
- In the eyes of the artist: Giotto on Prudence and Folly
- Sources and Commentaries
- Summary & Next Class
1. Questions for our Reading
- What kinds of political reality does Kohelet describe in our text? How does Kohelet appear to relate to political power?
- What classes of people does Kohelet identify? How does he appear to view class distinctions here?
- In our passage, Kohelet describes several situations. What do you think he is referring to in these descriptions?
- What questions do you have? What stands out for you in this passage?
2. Our Text: Kohelet 9:11-10:20
(11) I have further observed under the sun that
The race is not won by the swift,
Nor the battle by the valiant;
Nor is bread won by the wise,
Nor wealth by the intelligent,
Nor favor by the learned.
For the time of mischance. (12) And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men are caught at the time of calamity, when it comes upon them without warning.
(יג) גַּם־זֹ֛ה רָאִ֥יתִי חׇכְמָ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ וּגְדוֹלָ֥ה הִ֖יא אֵלָֽי׃ (יד) עִ֣יר קְטַנָּ֔ה וַאֲנָשִׁ֥ים בָּ֖הּ מְעָ֑ט וּבָֽא־אֵלֶ֜יהָ מֶ֤לֶךְ גָּדוֹל֙ וְסָבַ֣ב אֹתָ֔הּ וּבָנָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ מְצוֹדִ֥ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃ (טו) וּמָ֣צָא בָ֗הּ אִ֤ישׁ מִסְכֵּן֙ חָכָ֔ם וּמִלַּט־ה֥וּא אֶת־הָעִ֖יר בְּחׇכְמָת֑וֹ וְאָדָם֙ לֹ֣א זָכַ֔ר אֶת־הָאִ֥ישׁ הַמִּסְכֵּ֖ן הַהֽוּא׃ (טז) וְאָמַ֣רְתִּי אָ֔נִי טוֹבָ֥ה חׇכְמָ֖ה מִגְּבוּרָ֑ה וְחׇכְמַ֤ת הַמִּסְכֵּן֙ בְּזוּיָ֔ה וּדְבָרָ֖יו אֵינָ֥ם נִשְׁמָעִֽים׃ (יז) דִּבְרֵ֣י חֲכָמִ֔ים בְּנַ֖חַת נִשְׁמָעִ֑ים מִזַּעֲקַ֥ת מוֹשֵׁ֖ל בַּכְּסִילִֽים׃ (יח) טוֹבָ֥ה חׇכְמָ֖ה מִכְּלֵ֣י קְרָ֑ב וְחוֹטֶ֣א אֶחָ֔ד יְאַבֵּ֖ד טוֹבָ֥ה הַרְבֵּֽה׃
(13) This thing too I observed under the sun about wisdom, and it affected me profoundly. (14) There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a great king, who invested it and built mighty siege works against it. (15) Present in the city was a poor wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody thought of that poor man.
[NJPS notes an alternate translation of verse 15: Present in the city was a poor wise man who saved it with his wisdom...]
(16) So I observed: Wisdom is better than valor; but
A poor man’s wisdom is scorned,
And his words are not heeded. (17) Words spoken softly by wise men are heeded sooner than those shouted by a lord in folly. (18) Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error destroys much of value.
(1) Dead flies turn the perfumer’s ointment fetid and putrid; so a little folly outweighs massive wisdom. (2) A wise man’s mind tends toward the right hand, a fool’s toward the left. (3) A fool’s mind is also wanting when he travels, and he lets everybody know he is a fool. (4) If the wrath of a lord flares up against you, don’t give up your post; for when wrath abates, grave offenses are pardoned. (5) Here is an evil I have seen under the sun as great as an error committed by a ruler: (6) Folly was placed on lofty heights, while rich men sat in low estate. (7) I have seen slaves on horseback, and nobles walking on the ground like slaves.
(8) He who digs a pit will fall into it; he who breaches a stone fence will be bitten by a snake. (9) He who quarries stones will be hurt by them; he who splits wood will be harmed by it. (10) If the ax has become dull and he has not whetted the edge, he must exert more strength. Thus the advantage of a skill [depends on the exercise of] prudence. (11) If the snake bites because no spell was uttered, no advantage is gained by the trained charmer.
First part of 11 in Hebrew:
im yiSHOKH hanaH.ASH belo-laH.ASH...
(12) A wise man’s talk brings him favor, but a fool’s lips are his undoing. (13) His talk begins as silliness and ends as disastrous madness. (14) Yet the fool talks and talks! A man cannot know what will happen; who can tell him what the future holds? (15) A fool’s exertions tire him out, for he doesn’t know how to get to a town.
(16) Alas for you, O land whose king is a lackey and whose ministers dine in the morning! (17) Happy are you, O land whose king is a master and whose ministers dine at the proper time—with restraint, not with guzzling! (18) Through slothfulness the ceiling sags,
Through lazy hands the house caves in. (19) They [NJPS: I.e., the ministers of v. 16.] make a banquet for revelry; wine makes life merry, and money answers every need. (20) Don’t revile a king even among your intimates.
Don’t revile a rich man even in your bedchamber;
For a bird of the air may carry the utterance,
And a winged creature may report the word.
2a. Review of Questions - Initial Responses
3. In the Eyes of the Artist: Giotto on Prudence and Folly
Giotto (Giotto di Bondone, 1267-1337), Frescoes for the Scrovegni Chapel, 1305. (including Seven Virtues and Seven Vices). Stultitia (folly) was shown as the opposite of Prudentia (prudence).
Giotto, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giotto-_The_Seven_Vices_-_Foolishness.JPG
4. Sources and Commentaries
4a. 9:11-12 - Are humans trapped?
(12) And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men are caught at the time of calamity, when it comes upon them without warning.
(טז) הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, הַכֹּל נָתוּן בְּעֵרָבוֹן, וּמְצוּדָה פְרוּסָה עַל כָּל הַחַיִּים. הַחֲנוּת פְּתוּחָה, וְהַחֶנְוָנִי מֵקִיף, וְהַפִּנְקָס פָּתוּחַ, וְהַיָּד כּוֹתֶבֶת, וְכָל הָרוֹצֶה לִלְווֹת יָבֹא וְיִלְוֶה, וְהַגַּבָּאִים מַחֲזִירִים תָּדִיר בְּכָל יוֹם, וְנִפְרָעִין מִן הָאָדָם מִדַּעְתּוֹ וְשֶׁלֹּא מִדַּעְתּוֹ, וְיֵשׁ לָהֶם עַל מַה שֶּׁיִּסְמֹכוּ, וְהַדִּין דִּין אֱמֶת, וְהַכֹּל מְתֻקָּן לַסְּעוּדָה:
Ethics of the Fathers
(16) He [=Rabbi Akiva, d. 135] used to say: everything is given against a pledge, and a net is spread out over all the living; the store is open and the storekeeper allows credit, but the ledger is open and the hand writes, and whoever wishes to borrow may come and borrow; but the collectors go round regularly every day and exact dues from man, either with his consent or without his consent, and they have that on which they [can] rely [in their claims], seeing that the judgment is a righteous judgment, and everything is prepared for the banquet.
4b. 9:13 and following - The parable of the little city and the poor wise man
- Did they listen to him?
- What are we supposed to make of this parable?
- The perennial problem of the 'poor wise man' whose counsel is ignored - a contemporary illustration
(14) There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a great king, who invested it and built mighty siege works against it. (15) Present in the city was a poor wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody thought of that poor man.
NRSV to 9:15
Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city.
(13) Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer has the sense to heed warnings.
(19) Wisdom is more of a stronghold to a wise man than ten magnates that a city may contain.
(כא) עָשִׁיר מְדַבֵּר וְעוֹזְרָיו רַבִּים, וּדְבָרָיו מְכוֹעֲרִין מְיוּפִּין.
(כב) דַּל נָמוֹט מְדַבֵּר גָּע גָּע יִשֶּׂא, וְדִבֶּר מַשְׂכִּיל וְאֵין לוֹ מָקוֹם.
(כג) עָשִׁיר דּוֹבֵר הַכֹּל נִסְכָּתוּ, וְאֶת שִׂכְלוֹ עַד עָב יַגִּיעוּ.
(כד) דַּל דּוֹבֵר מִי זֶה יֹאמֵרוּ, וְאִם נִתְקַל גַּם הֵם יֶהְדֳּפוּהוּ.
(21) The rich speaketh, and his helpers are many; And his unseemly words are overlaid (?).
(22) A poor man speaketh (G S), and they hoot at him (?); Though he be wise that speaketh, there is no place for him.
(23) When the rich speaketh, all keep silence; And (?) they extol his wisdom to the clouds.
(24) When the poor speaketh, Who is this? say they; And if he stumble, they will help to overthrow him.
(2) The Midrash Aggadah [expounds as follows]:
A small city. This is the body.
(3) With few men within it. These are the limbs of a person.
(4) A mighty king. This is the evil inclination, which all his limbs feel.
(5) A poor [wise] man. This is the good inclination.
“Half a Year Later, Parts of the October 7 Puzzle Are Still Coming Together”
Amos Harel, Haaretz, Mar 29, 2024
“…that famous presentation about "Walls of Jericho" – a Hamas plan for a large-scale surprise attack along the entire Gaza border that was devised in the fall of 2021 and reached the Israeli intelligence community in the spring of 2022, some 18 months before it was carried out with terrifying precision. …
“…in the months before the war, almost prophetic emails were circulated by V. – a noncommissioned officer from MI's information-gathering Unit 8200 – that included detailed warnings about what might occur. V. described an exercise that ended with Hamas terrorists announcing over their tactical radios: "We've finished murdering the entire kibbutz."
“Her warnings and the ambitious goals outlined in Walls of Jericho should both have been in decision-makers' minds. But at least some of them seem to have unwittingly entered the home stretch of those fateful decisions with no real awareness of those two facts.”
[4c. 9:18 - A single error/sin can have terrible effects]
(18) Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error destroys much of value.
(3) Another explanation: But one sinner destroys a multitude of good. If Israel were half righteous and half wicked, and one person came and sinned and made [the wicked] the majority, the result would be that he weighed them all down to be guilty.
[4d 10:2 - Left and right]
(2) A wise man’s mind tends toward the right hand, a fool’s toward the left.
NJPS translator's note: I.e., a wise man’s mind brings him good luck; a fool’s brings him bad luck.
James L. Crenshaw, Commentary to 10:2, pp. 169-170
In ancient Israel the right hand connoted power and deliverance; the right side, moral goodness and favor. Hence the place of honor was on the right side. The left hand usually symbolized ineptness and perversity. Like attitudes are reflected in the language of ancient Greece (skaios, awkward; aristeros, clumsy) and Rome (sinister, sinister), and in modern French (gauche, awkward).
In Kabbalah, the right side is associated with the emanation (sefirah) of Chesed (Loving-kindness) and the left with the emanation (sefirah) of Gevurah (Strength, Judgement).
From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
"Gevurah is necessary for Creation to exist as it counterposes Chesed ("loving-kindness"), restricting the unlimited divine bounty within suitable vessels, so forming the Worlds. However, if man sins (actualising impure judgement within his soul), the supernal Judgement is reciprocally empowered over the Kindness, introducing disharmony among the Sephirot in the divine realm and exile from God throughout Creation."
4e. 10:5-7 - Social conservatism of Kohelet
Crenshaw, Comment to Ecclesiastes 10:6, p. 171
Qohelet's social conservatism is not spoken on behalf of any ruler. Instead, he gives voice to the dominant attitude of those sages who enjoyed the advantages of privilege. How dare the ruler allow social upheaval to invert the upper and lower strata of society?
Peter Machinist, Jewish Study Bible, Comment to 10:5-7, p. 957
The distress of wisdom writers that social orders should be overturned is also found in Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts.
4f. 10:17 - Good rulers control their impulses
The Gemma Augustea in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
The Gemma Augustea (Latin, Gem of Augustus) is an ancient Roman low-relief cameo engraved gem cut from a double-layered Arabian onyx stone. It is commonly agreed that the gem cutter who created it was either Dioscurides or one of his disciples, in the second or third decade of the 1st century AD.
By Dioscurides (?) - Self-photographed, October 2013 (James Steakley), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30890931
"The upper scene depicts the philosopher-king and other savants and warriors, while the lower scene depicts the people." [from description on another image of Gemma Augustea at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polis]
Note: Augustus reigned the Roman Empire from 27 BCE to 14 CE.
Crenshaw, Comment to Ecclesiastes 10:17, p. 176
The land is blessed with a ruler who belongs to nobility by birth and thus is not consumed by a passion to abuse newfound power the way a slave might do who assumes control of the highest office in the land (compare Proverbs 30:22). Because this freeborn king is fully in control, his princes exercise proper decorum and restraint, eating to keep up their strength and drinking in moderation. The necessity for a king to exercise self-control with regard to strong drink is no new emphasis in the sapiential [=Wisdom] literature.
At four which it cannot bear: (22) A slave who becomes king;
A scoundrel sated with food;
Not for kings to drink,
Nor any strong drink for princes, (5) Lest they drink and forget what has been ordained,
And infringe on the rights of the poor.
[4g. Counsel not to revile (or even make jokes about?) the king]
Don’t revile a rich man even in your bedchamber;
For a bird of the air may carry the utterance,
And a winged creature may report the word.
5. Summary and Next Class
Kohelet vi.
- 11:7-12:7 Youth and Old age
- 12:8-14 Epilogues
- Review of Kohelet