What follows is a prospectus I just wrote for my OT2 class for a exegesis of Ecclesiastes 3: 1 - 15. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions before I get into the heart of the paper!
The song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” written by Pete Seeger but popularized by the Byrds in 1965, puts forward a message of peace and nonviolent resistance. Borrowed from Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 of the King James Version of the Bible, the song’s lyrics are only slightly modified from the original Biblical text, with a few changes of verse order and the addition of “I swear its not to late” after the “a time for peace” line. Beneath the flower power of the popular 1960s anthem however is the centuries old message of Qoheleth, a teacher, preacher, king or assembler living under the political oppression of Ptolemaic Jerusalem. Once subjected to contemporary methods of textual, historical, sociological and literary criticism, the lyrical source of “Turn! Turn! Turn!” combined with the seven verses following it can become a deep spring of meditative wisdom and reflection. What I propose then is a type of cultural reading of Qoheleth 3: 1 – 15 that first illuminates the intended message of its original author and then brings the light of that message into the present context of those baby boomers who first heard it with the jingle-jangle of Roger McGuinn’s twelve-string Rickenbacker playing in the background. My thesis is that when read as indicated above, Qoheleth 3: 1 – 15 wisely argues that peace can only be found in the balance of working solely for the good of God and experiencing the joy of God’s many gifts, despite the relative freedom of fleeting human life.
Proposed
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