- Which of the following interpretations of the proverbs in Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 would seem to fit the best for the Kohelet you have come to understand from his teachings till now?
- Traditional Jewish: It refers to the just use of wealth and to spreading it among many causes.
- Many modern commentators: It refers to commerce; risking investments overseas and diversifying one’s investments.
- It teaches that patience is a virtue; time is important.
- Depending on your choice of interpretation for Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 above, how might you continue the idea in Ecclesiastes 11:3-4?
- Referring to charity and good deeds.
- Referring to business and work.
- Referring to superstition and timidity.
- With what aspect of the world must everyone come to terms (Ecclesiastes 11:5)?
- In spite of the truth in Ecclesiastes 11:5, what advice is given about work and expectations during one’s life (Ecclesiastes 11:6)?
- In Ecclesiastes 11:7-8 Kohelet returns to his major thesis regarding life and death. How would you summarize his viewpoint?
- How would you compare Ecclesiastes 11:9 with the following quotations?
- Numbers 15:39: “That you go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to go astray.”
- Eruvin 54a : “Seize hold and eat; seize hold and drink, for this world whence we depart is like a wedding feast.”
- Jerusalem TalmudReferring to one of two collections, the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, edited in the 6th century, that contains hundreds of years of commentary, discussion, and exploration of the ideas in the Mishnah. One could describe it as Mishnah + Gemara = Talmud Read more, Kiddushin, end: “Every person must render an account before God for all the good things he beheld in life and did not enjoy.”
- What does Kohelet advise in Ecclesiastes 11:10 that you should do away with and about what should you not be concerned?
