Hello George,
Dual response: I agree that an interpretation 'decided'
fits bettter in the context of determinism. This mood
however does not appear in this verse, but does appear
in the verses preceeding 7, and following 10 A. And of course
one finds the mood of resignation and determinism
throughout Qohelet.
The common understanding of 'accepted' or 'approved'
fits better in this verse.
Just to clarify: verses 7 -10 A appear to be an addition
or an insertion in between those that are preceeding
and follow them.
My two and a half Agorot.
Uri Hurwitz
Great Neck, NY
Qohelet 9.7 reads:
לֵ֣ךְ אֱכֹ֤ל בְּשִׂמְחָה֙ לַחְמֶ֔ךָ וּֽשֲׁתֵ֥ה בְלֶב־ט֖וֹב יֵינֶ֑ךָ כִּ֣י
כְבָ֔ר רָצָ֥ה הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶֽת־מַעֲשֶֽׂיךָ׃
I'm interested to hear from others about how they see the final clause working
here. Almost all English versions go for something like '…for God has already
accepted your works'. This understands the verb רצה as meaning 'to accept', or
'to approve'. However, this seems to go against the context in my opinion.
Qohelet is known for producing tensions in his discussion, but they are usually
contextual and can be upheld. This one seems to defy that principle.
The idea I'm toying with is that the verb רצה indicates the subject making a
decision for something—wanting something. The verb makes no express statement
about the objective merit of an external thing that would cause the subject to
make a decision, even though it might be used in a situation where an external
object impels the subject to 'like' or 'accept' it. But that is beside the
point. The point of the verb is to focus on the subject's positive decision
about something. In this case, it would read something like '…for God has
already decided your works'. This would be an expression of divine determinism,
which in the context would be entirely appropriate.
Thoughts?
GEORGE ATHAS
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