Leupold Old Testament Commentaries: Ecclesiastes
Overview
Ecclesiastes, one of the Old Testament’s philosophically rich gems, receives masterful treatment at the hands of Dr. Leupold. Walking the line between being informationally dense while honoring the poetic nature of Ecclesiastes, Leupold explores the themes of Ecclesiastes section by section. The commentary begins with an introduction that discusses authorship, dating, the books purpose and style, its relationship to Greek and Babylonian thought and a suggestion of other exegetical works to further illuminate this powerful book.
Top Highlights
“It follows from these considerations that the different types of activity mentioned in vv. 2–8 are to be conceived exclusively as forms of divine activity—there is a proper time for God to do things. Since, then, the time for all things has been determined, everything rests on God’s will and good pleasure, both the time when such a work is to be carried through as well as the carrying through itself.” (Page 81)
“The use of this phrase is equivalent to drawing a horizontal line between earthly and heavenly realities and leaving out of consideration all that is above this line, that is to say, all higher values.” (Page 28)
“Since the times are evil and the godly suffer much, this is primarily a book of comfort. It shows God’s people how to meet their difficult problems. Cox is right in claiming that this is ‘one of the most consolatory and inspiriting Scriptures.’” (Page 17)
“Of far greater weight is the argument that the condition in which the people addressed find themselves agrees most closely with the condition of the people after the return from the Exile, particularly with the time of Malachi.” (Page 11)
“The book has the name Koheleth because it claims to have been written by Koheleth. The opening statement reads: ‘The words of Koheleth.’” (Page 8)