The Non-Teleological Worldview of Ecclesiastes: Relativizing the Symbolic Order of the Hellenistic Empire and Jewish Apocalyptic Teleology

Key Points

• The study aims to analyze Ecclesiastes within the context of Hellenistic Jewish thought, highlighting its non-teleological perspective in relation to imperial and apocalyptic ideologies.
• Conducted a syntactic and semantic analysis of key concepts in Ecclesiastes, focusing on themes like 'under the sun', 'vanity', and 'chance'.
• Compared the text with apocalyptic themes found in Joel, Zechariah, and Daniel to illustrate differing historical understandings.
• Ecclesiastes presents a worldview that relativizes imperial optimism symbolized by the sun, portraying a non-teleological perspective.
• The text emphasizes the cyclicality and randomness of human life, challenging apocalyptic frameworks that impose a compensatory structure on life and history.

Abstract