Even though Qoheleth shows little or no concern with special revelation and makes no mention of Israel’s special history, by these very omissions he stands firmly within the wisdom tradition. When he does turn to the question of behavior, his concern moves beyond Torah in the sense of right and wrong to the questions of whether moral righteousness (1) is possible (7:20), and (2) guar antees financial success (7:15-18, 8:10-15). Moreover, the concept of Heilsgeschichte is replaced in Qoheleth’s thought with a concern for the appropriate time to do things. Von Rad admits that this subject is from the very beginning in the center of ancient Near Eastern wisdom and that Qoheleth is in agreement with these ideas in the didactic poem of 3:1-8.*^ But, von Rad asks, of what value is that know ledge to the wise man if he cannot discern for himself the under lying order which makes the most divergent modes of behavior appropriate in their own time. For von Rad, 3:9-15 represents a clear-cut example of the abandonment of tbe wisdom endeavor by Qobeletb, an example of his pitching his camp at the farthest frontier of Jahwism.”^^ Yet the book of Proverbs reads in two places: All the ways of ii man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit (Prov. 16:2); A man’s steps are ordered by the Lord; how then can man understand his way (Prov. 20:24)?
Other proverbs which indicate either the difficulty in finding wisdom or God’s human actions could be quoted, but von Rad’s own comments on these two texts will serve my purpose. These two sentences do not speak of something experienced or even evident, but of something unknown, that is of something which escapes human calculation. In this way the teachers take a man out of the security of his perceptions and values.... These are not, of course, general dogmas with which the wise men confront human stubbornness. On the contrary, behind these warnings there lie, once again, specific experiences which, although against the usual run, may not for all that be sup pressed. Nor did they simply stand as exceptions on the peri meter; it was not a question of isolated crossshots with which one had to cope as best one could. 'I’hese unknown factors could be encountered at any time or in any place in life,...^'l
Fhat is, according lo von Rad himself, traditional wisdom recog nized its own limits. In my judgment Qoheleth merely makes a 4