Pastor's Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes (series), #1 - Words of Wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:1-11)

Series: Ecclesiastes

Sermon #1: Words of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

¹ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. ² Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. ³ What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? ⁴ One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. ⁵ The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. ⁶ The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. ⁷ All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. ⁸ All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. ⁹ The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. ¹⁰ Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. ¹¹ There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

Introduction:

Last week my wife and I were had an enjoyable stop at the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center in North Carolina’s Dismal Swamp State Park along Route 17. You may already be wondering what that has to do with Ecclesiastes! I invite you to listen while I read two paragraphs from a well-known literary work in order to provide the context for a pertinent quote that it contains. You may be surprised which literary work is being cited!

“Nevertheless the sun hides not Virginia's Dismal Swamp, nor Rome's accursed Campagna, nor wide Sahara, nor all the millions of miles of deserts and of griefs beneath the moon. The sun hides not the ocean, which is the dark side of this earth, and which is two thirds of this earth. So, therefore, that mortal man who hath more of joy than sorrow in him, that mortal man cannot be true- not true, or undeveloped. With books the same. The truest of all men was the Man of Sorrows, and the truest of all books is Solomon's, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe. "All is vanity." ALL. This wilful world hath not got hold of unchristian Solomon's wisdom yet. But he who dodges hospitals and jails, and walks fast crossing graveyards, and would rather talk of operas than hell; calls Cowper, Young, Pascal, Rousseau, poor devils all of sick men; and throughout a care-free lifetime swears by Rabelais as passing wise, and therefore jolly;- not that man is fitted to sit down on tomb-stones, and break the green damp mould with unfathomably wondrous Solomon.

But even Solomon, he says, "the man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain" (i.e. even while living) "in the congregation of the dead." Give not thyself up, then, to fire, lest it invert thee, deaden thee; as for the time it did me. There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar.”

The pertinent quote that I referred to previously, as you may have surmised already, is the following:

“The truest of all men was the Man of Sorrows, and the truest of all books is Solomon's, and Ecclesiastes is the fine hammered steel of woe.”[1]

To some Ecclesiastes is the “Dismal Swamp” of the Scriptures!

To others perhaps a metaphor from John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim's Progress comes to mind as more appropriate, i.e., the notorious Slough of Despond:

“Then I stepped to him that plucked him out, and said, “Sir, wherefore, since over this place is the way from the city of Destruction to yonder gate, is it, that this plat is not mended, that poor travellers might go thither with more security?” And he said unto me, “This miry slough is such a place as cannot be mended: it is the descent whither the scum and filth that attends conviction for sin doth continually run, and therefore it is called the Slough of Despond; for still, as the sinner is awakened about his lost condition, there arise in his soul many fears and doubts, and discouraging apprehensions, which all of them get together, and settle in this place: and this is the reason of the badness of this ground.

“It is not the pleasure of the King that this place should remain so bad. Isa. 35:3,4. His laborers also have, by the direction of his Majesty’s surveyors, been for above this sixteen hundred years employed about this patch of ground, if perhaps it might have been mended: yea, and to my knowledge,” said he, “there have been swallowed up at least twenty thousand cart loads, yea, millions of wholesome instructions, that have at all seasons been brought from all places of the King’s dominions, (and they that can tell, say, they are the best materials to make good ground of the place,) if so be it might have been mended; but it is the Slough of Despond still, and so will be when they have done what they can.

“True, there are, by the direction of the Lawgiver, certain good and substantial steps, placed even through the very midst of this slough; but at such time as this place doth much spew out its filth, as it doth against change of weather, these steps are hardly seen; or if they be, men, through the dizziness of their heads, step beside, and then they are bemired to purpose, notwithstanding the steps be there: but the ground is good when they are once got in at the gate.” 1 Sam. 12:23.”[2]

J. Stafford Wright suggests that it “might be called the black sheep of the Bible.”[3]

Some refer to it as an enigma or likened to the riddle of the Sphinx.

To others it is the “fine hammered steel of woe.”

To at least one author it is “The Philippians of the Old Testament.”[4]

What is Ecclesiastes to you?

Outline:

I. The Superscription (1:1)

II. The Hook (1:2)

III. The Prologue (1:3-11)

Transition:

In the very first sentence of his commentary on Ecclesiastes[5] Jerry E. Shepherd cites the late David A. Hubbard from Fuller Seminary as follows:

“Anyone to whom the book of Ecclesiastes is not a puzzle has not yet read it.”[6]

At the very end of Jacques Ellul’s Reason for Being — A Meditation on Ecclesiastes he writes:

“Now we have the answer to our question: Who can distinguish folly from wisdom? Where will such wisdom come from? Qohelet knows wisdom can follow only one first step: a true relationship with God. We almost need to read Qohelet backwards! For clearly, everything begins with this fear of God. All the rest flows from it: vanity and fleeting pleasure, as well as the recognition of the God who gives and the discernment of foolish human behavior. God has led us by the hand to this last door, which is the first door to life.”[7]

I. The Superscription (1:1)

¹ The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

1. The Words

Ecclesiastes, due to the nature of its contents, is considered one of the Wisdom books of the Old Testament along with Job and Proverbs. There are also Psalms that are considered as wisdom psalms, such as 1, 32, 34, and 37. Comparison of Ecclesiastes with Job and Proverbs is instructive for appreciating the role that each book plays in the canonical Wisdom literature.

These inspired Wisdom writings are not to be confused with the Apocryphal books such as Ecclesiasticus (AKA Sirach, from the author’s name, Joshua ben Sira), and the Wisdom of Solomon.

Ecclesiastes is one of the five Megilloth, “Rolls” or “Scrolls,” which is the second of three divisions of the Kethubim, or Writings (Lk. 24:44). The other four books included in the Megilloth are Ruth, the Song of Solomon, Esther and Lamentations.

When reference is made to Old Testament antilegomena, or books whose canonicity was disputed, spoken against, or called into question, there are three: Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Esther.

Ecclesiastes in Jewish tradition is the annual lectionary reading at the Feast of Tabernacles. This fact should give pause to any who cannot explain why this is done, or who cannot understand how this ancient use of the book makes sense with its contents. Interestingly, this would have been done last Sunday, 27 SEP 2015, since the Feast of Tabernacles or Succoth, ends today!

“Sunday marks the end of the Sukkot holiday, or the Feast of Tabernacles.”[8]

“In most Synagogues, Ecclesiastes is read on the Shabbos during the intermediate days of Succos. This comes out during harvest time - a time when we are most likely to be impressed with physical, this-worldly success.”[9]

“The Torah is read on every day of the festival, including the Shabbat that falls during Sukkot. On this Shabbat, the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) is read.”[10]

 “On the Shabbat which falls during the week of Sukkot (or in the event when the first day of Sukkot is on Shabbat), the Book of Ecclesiastes is read during morning synagogue services in Israel. (Diaspora communities read it the second Shabbat {eighth day} when the first day of sukkot is on Shabbat.) This Book's emphasis on the ephemeralness of life (“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity...”) echoes the theme of the sukkah, while its emphasis on death reflects the time of year in which Sukkot occurs (the “autumn” of life). The penultimate verse reinforces the message that adherence to God and His Torah is the only worthwhile pursuit. (Cf. Ecclesiastes 12:13,14.)”[11]

See especially Barry G. Webb, Five Festal Garments: Christian Reflections on The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, Vol. 10 in New Studies in Biblical Theology, series ed. D. A. Carson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), the Annual Moore College Lectures delivered in Sydney, Australia in August 1998.

The “words” of this book are part of God’s Word, His inspired, infallible, and inerrant written revelation to His people. The “words” of Ecclesiastes are God’s words.

2. The Preacher

This word is the source of the book’s title. It has been transliterated from the Hebrew variously (depending on the pronunciation and system of transliteration) as Qoheleth, Qohelet, Coheleth, Cohelet, Kohelth, and Kohelet. It was translated into Greek as Ἐκκλησιαστοῦ, which was then transliterated into Latin as Ecclesiastae from which our English title came. Luther translated it into German as der Prediger.

This title is also found in 1:2, 12; 7:27; and 12:8-10, but nowhere else in the Old Testament. In other words, this form of the Hebrew word is only found in Ecclesiastes.

It has been understood as having the sense of one who calls together an assembly.

3. The Son of David

Some translations render this without the definite article, or with the indefinite article, “a son of David,” probably due to doubts about Solomonic authorship.

4. The King in Jerusalem

When all of the statements about this king woven throughout the book are considered it would seem presumptuous to fly in the face of that evidence by dogmatic denials of Solomonic authorship. While granting the very real difficulties raised by some opponents, and the fact that this is not explicitly stipulated in the book itself, if a conclusion were to be insisted on concerning the author there are no other serious contenders besides Solomon.

Further discussion concerning these last two descriptive phrases will be postponed until the conclusion.

II. The Hook (1:2)

² Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

1. Translations:

meaningless(ness), futility, frustration, nonsense, absurdity[12]

2. Occurrences and Role in the Book:

This term is repeated in 38 times in the book, e.g., 2:1; 4:16; and 11:10. However, two other terms occur 52 times each, and two others 40 times each, so serious consideration must be given to these other subjects as being given more emphasis throughout the book.[13]

The Key does not “lie at the door”!

Neither is this an example of BLUF (bottom line up front)!

It may in fact be helpful to consider this expression as a “hook” rather than as a key or a conclusion. It is sometimes referred to as a “motto,” and while it is that, it would be a mistake to assume at this point that it functions as the motto for the book.

3. Wrong Assumptions:

Some assume that this verse sums up the teaching of Ecclesiastes as the main point or conclusion. As a result many have opined that what we find in this book does not go beyond natural revelation, empiricism, existentialism, or worse, nihilism.

4. Philosophical and Theological Implications:

existentialism, nihilism, evidentialism

skepticism

agnosticism

“the skeptical empiricism of Ecclesiastes”[14]

analogical revelation

relationship between supernatural and natural

“It is because faith and questioning belong together that Ecclesiastes manifests both…”[15]

The effects of Fall are very much in play in the teaching of Ecclesiastes.

“Life east of Eden is not a reversion to total dis-order.”[16]

The gap between the natural and the supernatural, the creation and the Creator is bridged only by the Incarnation.

“In some ways Christ as the “answer” to Job and Ecclesiastes.”[17]

III. The Prologue (1:3-11)

³ What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? ⁴ One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. ⁵ The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. ⁶ The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. ⁷ All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. ⁸ All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. ⁹ The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. ¹⁰ Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. ¹¹ There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

Who can read the words of this prologue and not recall Ernest Hemingway’s book The Sun Also Rises (1926),

“The themes of The Sun Also Rises appear in its two epigraphs. The first is an allusion to the “Lost Generation,” a term coined by Gertrude Stein referring to the post-war generation;[18] the other epigraph is a long quotation from Ecclesiastes: “What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.” Hemingway told his editor Max Perkins that the book was not so much about a generation being lost, but that “the earth abideth forever.” He thought the characters in The Sun Also Rises may have been “battered” but were not lost.”[19]

or Robert Redford’s movie A River Runs Through It (1992),

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”[20]

or the Rolling Stones’ song (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (1965)?

“I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm drivin' in my car
And that man comes on the radio
And he's tellin' me more and more
About some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination
I can't get no, oh no no no
Hey hey hey, that's what I say

I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no”[21]

A lost race, an abiding earth, the basement of time, the haunting of waters, useless information, failure, and dissatisfaction, all of the above have been suggested by this book’s prologue.

This prologue is the first expansion on what verse two means.

The role of the rhetorical questions in Ecclesiastes, e.g., 1:3 and 1:10a-b, has been recognized as significant. For example, see Raymond Johnson, “The Rhetorical Question as a Literary Device in Ecclesiastes” (Ph.D. diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1986).

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?....Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?...

Other literary devices will be observed in subsequent passages in the book that help to identify the structure and flow of its contents.

Two connections must be made at this point. The first is to the curse, and the nature of man’s existence post-Fall, East of Eden.

What does the curse of Genesis 3 mean? How does it affect our existence? What is the impact of partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

¹⁶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

^{18 T}horns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

^{19 I}n the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

In the words of verses 3-11 which begin to unpack the “hook” of verse 2 we are drawn into the beginning of an examination of the answers to those questions.

Consider also the two first acts of the fallen pair following the eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as irrational and absurd (Gen. 3:7-8, along with the introduction of shame and fear, 3:7, 10).

A chapter with important points to consider is Benjamin Shaw, “On Reading Ecclesiastes,” in The Hope Fulfilled: Essays in Honor of O. Palmer Robertson, ed. Robert L. Penny (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), pp. 47-58.

Shaw deals with “Ecclesiastes and Genesis” on pg. 56. He begins this discussion with the following: 

“Outside of the wisdom books, the most important source for Ecclesiastes in the opening chapters of Genesis (1-5). This appears in both obvious and subtle ways.” 

In the middle of Shaw’s treatment of this subject he makes these statements: 

“The inability of human wisdom to accomplish a full understanding of all that transpires hints at the failure of man to succeed at what he attempted in eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The “tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6), but man's wisdom and knowledge are limited both in their scope and in their ability, something that Ecclesiastes repeatedly makes clear.”

He begins his final paragraph on this page with:

“What Ecclesiastes sets before the reader is what he can expect from life in a fallen world.”

Another connection must be made to the New Testament summary statement concerning “life east of Eden” is found in Romans 8.

¹⁸ For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, ²¹ Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. ²³ And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? ²⁵ But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Comparisons to these and other related passages in the Scriptures remind us that the imagined answers to the Preacher’s rhetorical questions must not be set in concrete as absolutes for all time, but kept in the context of our present condition in salvation history: East of Eden, and still “West” of the New Heavens and New Earth.

Conclusion:

In closing we must ask ourselves what Ecclesiastes is, and is not. We must be clear on the answers to these two questions.

Ecclesiastes is not a comfort zone for the proud. Fallen humanity is incapable of making sense of its own existence.

Ecclesiastes puts man in his place East of Eden, in a fallen world groaning in the bondage of corruption.

Ecclesiastes dashes all human philosophy apart from the revelation of God in the dust. In other words, what begins “under the sun” ends “under the sun.” Apart from the supernatural intervention of God the natural realm is hopelessly empty of ultimate meaning. Any who have been lulled into a false sense of security in their worldly wisdom are exposed by Der Prediger.

There is a Preacher who is the Prophet of prophets.

There is a Son of David, David’s “Greater Son” who is also David’s Lord.

There is a King who was in Jerusalem, and will be there again, as the King of kings.

Ecclesiastes is His Word. He is the Logos. As the Logos, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, He embraces in His very being the words and the truth of the words of this book.

He is the only connection between our fallen race “under the sun,” and the Creator Who is over all, God blessed forever. He is what makes sense of it all, all of life, all of labor, all of our searching and thinking.

Apart from Him nothing makes sense, nothing is rational, nothing is logical. Apart from the revelation of God in Christ as the Mediator there is nothing but the curse of futility, and meaninglessness, or absurdity and nonsense.

[Sermon preached 4 OCT 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown, PA.]

Select Bibliography

William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Christian Focus, 2012).

Jacques Ellul, Reason for Being — A Meditation on Ecclesiastes, trans. Joyce Main Hanks (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990).

John Goldingay, Theological Diversity and the Authority of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1987).

David Alan Hubbard, Beyond Futility: Messages of Hope from the Book of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976).

Raymond Johnson, “The Rhetorical Question as a Literary Device in Ecclesiastes” (Ph.D. diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1986).

Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979).

Benjamin Shaw, “On Reading Ecclesiastes,” in The Hope Fulfilled: Essays in Honor of O. Palmer Robertson, ed. Robert L. Penny (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2008), pp. 47-58.

Jerry E. Shepherd, “Ecclesiastes,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, rev. ed., gen. eds. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, Vol. 6: Proverbs ~ Isaiah (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008).

Barry G. Webb, Five Festal Garments: Christian Reflections on The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, Vol. 10 in New Studies in Biblical Theology, series ed. D. A. Carson (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000).

J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes”, in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1972); from J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes,” Evangelical Quarterly 18 (1946); on Rediscovering the Bible at http://rediscoveringthebible.com/InterpretationOfEcclesiastes.html [accessed 7 MAY 2015].

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End Notes:

[1] This was spoken by Ishmael (“Call me Ishmael.”), in Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale (1851), s.v. Ch. 96 - “The Try-Works”; on American Literature at http://www.americanliterature.com/author/herman-melville/book/moby-dick-or-the-whale/chapter-96-the-try-works [accessed 2 OCT 2015].

[2] John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress From This World to That Which Is to Come; Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream (Auburn: Derby and Miller; and Buffalo:Geo. H. Derby and Co., 1853), s.v. Part I, The First Stage; on Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bunyan/pilgrim.iv.i.html [accessed 2 OCT 2015].

[3] J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes,” in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1972), pg. 135; from J. Stafford Wright, “The Interpretation of Ecclesiastes,” Evangelical Quarterly 18 (1946), pg. 18; on Rediscovering the Bible at http://rediscoveringthebible.com/InterpretationOfEcclesiastes.html [accessed 7 MAY 2015].

[4] William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, Focus on the Bible series (Christian Focus, 2012).

[5] Jerry E. Shepherd, “Ecclesiastes,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, rev. ed., gen. eds. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, Vol. 6: Proverbs ~ Isaiah (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), pg. 255.

[6] David Alan Hubbard, Beyond Futility: Messages of Hope from the Book of Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), pg. 7.

[7] Jacques Ellul, Reason for Being — A Meditation on Ecclesiastes, trans. Joyce Main Hanks (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), pg. 303. This is in fact what Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. does in his Ecclesiastes: Total Life, in Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), pp. 13-14, 43, 61, 78-79, and 93.

[8] “Stand for Israel” on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StandforIsrael/photos/a.409004497040.184323.110415502040/10153046573087041/?type=3&theater [accessed 3 OCT 2015].

[9] “The Five Megillos” on Torah at http://www.torah.org/learning/basics/primer/torah/megilos1.html [accessed 3 OCT 2015].

[10] Daniel B. Syme, The Jewish Home, rev. ed.; “Sukkot Customs and Rituals” on Reform Judaism at  http://www.reformjudaism.org/sukkot-customs-and-rituals [accessed 3 OCT 2015].

[11] Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot [accessed 3 OCT 2015].

[12] See the various English translations along with the notes some of them include containing alternative translations. See also Barrick, op. cit., pp. 31-32.

[13] Barrick, op. cit., pp. 12-13.

[14] John Goldingay, Theological Diversity and the Authority of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1987), pg. 35.

[15] Goldingay, op. cit., pg. 195.

[16] Goldingay, op. cit., pg. 224.

[17] Goldingay, op. cit., pg. 234. Cp. also pg. 235.

[18] “Hemingway may have used the term as an early title for the novel, according to biographer James Mellow. The term originated from a remark in French made to Gertrude Stein by the owner of a garage, speaking of those who went to war: “C'est une génération perdue” (literally, “they are a lost generation”).” See James Mellow, Hemingway: A Life Without Consequences (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1992), pg. 309. Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_Also_Rises [accessed 3 OCT 2015].

[19] Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_Also_Rises [accessed 3 OCT 2015].

[20] This was spoken as by the older Norman Fitzroy Maclean (23 DEC 1902 - 2 AUG 1990) at the end of the movie, but actually narrated by the Director, Robert Redford. IMDb at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105265/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu  [accessed 3 OCT 2015]. He is the author of the “semi-autobiographical novella” A River Runs Through It and Other Stories (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976), the literary basis for the movie. Maclean was the William Rainey Harper Professor in the Department of English at the University of Chicago. Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Maclean [accessed 3 OCT 2015].

[21] LyricsFreak at http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/rolling+stones/satisfaction_10243634.html [accessed 3 OCT 2015].