Original Research - Special Collection: Historical Thought and Source Interpretation

הכל הבל in Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8 – Descriptive metaphysics of properties as comparative-philosophical supplement

Jaco Gericke
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 77, No 1 | a6688 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i1.6688 | © 2021 Jaco Gericke | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 02 April 2021 | Published: 07 July 2021

About the author(s)

Jaco Gericke, Department of Ancient Culture, Faculty of Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Abstract

In this article, a supplementary yet original contribution is made to the ongoing attempts at refining ways of comparative-philosophical conceptual clarification of Qohelet’s claim that הבל הכל in 1:2 (and 12:8). Adopting and adapting the latest analytic metaphysical concerns and categories for descriptive purposes only, a distinction is made between הבל as property of הכל and the properties of הבל in relation to הכל. Involving both correlation and contrast, the second-order language framework is hereby extended to a level of advanced nuance and specificity for restating the meaning of the book’s first-order language on its own terms, even if not in them.

Contribution: By considering logical, ontological, mereological and typological aspects of property theory in dialogue with appearances of הכל and of הבל in Ecclesiastes 1:2 and 12:8 and in-between, a new way is presented in the quest to explain why things in the world of the text are the way they are, or why they are at all.


Keywords

Ecclesiastes; הכל ;הבל; comparative philosophy; properties (philosophy)

Metrics

Total abstract views: 1408
Total article views: 1728


Crossref Citations

No related citations found.