CHAPTER XI.
DOES KOHELETH CONTAIN GREEK WORDS OR IDEAS?
We now begin the consideration of the question, Are there
any well-ascertained Græcisms in the language and in
the thought of this obviously exceptional book? That there
are many Greek loan-words in Targumic and Talmudic, is
undeniable, though Levy in his lexicon has no doubt exaggerated
their number. G. Zirkel, a Roman Catholic scholar,
was the first who answered in the affirmative, confining himself
to the linguistic side of the argument. His principal work,[1]
Untersuchungen über den Prediger (Würzburg, 1792), is not in
the Bodleian Library, but Eichhorn's review in his Allgemeine
Bibliothek, vol. iv. (1792), contains a summary of Zirkel's
evidence from which I select the following.
(a) [Hebrew: **] in sense of [Greek: kalos] 'becoming' (iii. 11, v. 17). This is one
of the Græcisms which commend themselves the most to Grätz and
Kleinert. The former points especially to v. 17, where he takes
[Hebrew: **] together as representing [Greek: kalon kygathon] (comp. Plumptre
on v. 18). The construction, however, is mistaken (see Delitzsch).
The second [Hebrew: **] indicates that [Hebrew: **] is a synonym of [Hebrew: **] 'excellent.'
The notion of the beautiful can be developed in various ways. The
sense 'becoming,' characteristic of later Hebrew, is more distinctly
required in iii. 11.
(b) 'In the clause [Hebrew: **] (ii. 15) the words [Hebrew: **] must signify [Greek: eti mallon]: quid mihi prodest majorem adhuc sapientiæ operam dare?' But the demonstrative particle [Hebrew: **] means, not [Greek: eti], but 'in these circumstances' (Jer. xxii. 15). Its position and connection with [Hebrew: **] are for emphasis. The fact of experience mentioned makes any special care for wisdom unreasonable.
(c) '[Hebrew: **] (iii. 12) is a literal translation of [Greek: eu prattein].' This
- ↑ He also published Der Prediger Salomon; ein Lesebuch für den jungen Weltbürger; übersetzt und erklärt (1792). The very title bears the mark of the century.