For anyone researching a topic from Ecclesiastes, a comprehensive bibliography on Ecclesiastes for this OT book is a wonderful but rather overwhelming resource. The book is a classified listing of the publications on the book of Ecclesiastes from 1900 to 2015 as selected by Russell L. Meek and David J. H. Beldman. This book originates from a 99-page bibliography compiled by Beldman for Craig Bartholomew’s Ecclesiastes commentary and Stuart Weeks’s contribution of his own bibliographical sources, ultimately resulting in what Katherine Dell evaluates as “a must have” in her endorsement.The book continues the work of Stuart Weeks, The Making of Many Books: Printed Works on Ecclesiastes 1523–1875 (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2014), by gathering and organizing articles, essays, and monographs published in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish since 1900. Without annotations, the book provides a categorized bibliography based on various topics and subjects. Chapters include wide-ranging topics such as death, fear of the Lord, joy, hebel, language, and history of interpretation. Some chapters reflect scholarly issues in Ecclesiastes such as frame narrator/narrative and wisdom/pedagogy of the wise/wisdom “school.” The book also has a helpful section on methodology, which is subdivided into 7 specific methods, including newer approaches such as deconstructionism and film studies. Unexpectedly omitted from this bibliography are introductory works that discuss OT wisdom literature, such as Old Testament Wisdom Literature: A Theological Introduction (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011), by Craig Bartholomew and Ryan O’Dowd, or Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction, 3rd ed. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2010), by James Crenshaw. Furthermore, Choon-Leong Seow’s “Theology when Everything is Out of Control,” Interpretation 55 (2001): 237–49, which discusses Qohelet’s theology—and therefore perhaps other significant essays—is also missing.The categories are similar to the organization of theological dictionaries in that they are wide-ranging and alphabetically ordered. Works that relate to more than one category are listed in multiple relevant sections. For example, “Fear God and Enjoy His Gifts: Qohelet’s Edenic Vision of Life,” CTR 14 (2016): 23–34, by Russell Meek, appears in three different chapters, “God/The Divine/Fear of the Lord,” “Joy/Enjoyment/Carpe Diem,” and “Intertextuality/Inner-Biblical Allusion.” As a result, it is easy to find resources without missing related works.Since the topics are arranged in alphabetical order, the section covering the individual chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes (appropriately titled “Chapters”) follows sections titled “Authority,” “Biblical Theology,” and “Canonicity.” Although a minor incongruity, this diverges from what the preface indicates: “The layout of the bibliography is straightforward. The first category is the chapters of Ecclesiastes, where readers will find works that address—not surprisingly—particular passages in Ecclesiastes” (p. viiii). Nevertheless, the simplicity, clarity, and the expertise reflected in these categorized bibliographical lists facilitate an “easier and more efficient” scholarly engagement with secondary sources on Ecclesiastes written in multiple languages (p. viiii), commendably accomplishing the goal of the project.
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Open Access
Jan 1, 2021
Susanto Kawi 
