The Debate over the Canonicity of Ecclesiastes
Rabbi Simeon ben Menasya says, “Song of Songs defiles the hands since it was written with divine inspiration. Ecclesiastes does not defile the hands since it is only the wisdom of Solomon.” They said to him, “And did he [Solomon] write only this? Is it not stated: He wrote three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered one thousand and five (1 Kings 5:12)?” It is stated: Do not add to his words (Proverbs 30:6).
Translated by S. Berrin.
Notes
Text in brackets appears in the original translation.
Credits
t. Yadayim 2:14, trans. S. Berrin, from Lawrence Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Source Reader for the Study of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism (Hoboken, N.J.: Ktav, 1998), p. 120. Used with permission of the publisher.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
You may also like
Scrolls That Defile the Hands
m. Yadayim 3:5
A scroll on which the writing has become erased and eighty-five letters remain, as many as are in the section beginning And it came to pass when the ark set forward (Numbers 10:35–36) defiles the…
On the Sanctity of Ecclesiastes and Esther
b. Shabbat 30b|b. Megillah 7a
R. Judah, son of R. Samuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: The sages sought to suppress the book of Ecclesiastes [and declare it apocryphal] because its…
Eusebius’ Contents of the Jewish Canon
Ecclesiastical History 4.26
Accordingly when I came to the east and reached the place where these things were preached and done, and learnt accurately the books of the Old Testament, I set down the facts and sent them to you…
Melito’s Contents of the Jewish Canon
Ecclesiastical History 6.25
Now while expounding the first Psalm he set forth the catalogue of the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament, writing somewhat as follows in these words: “But it should be known that there are twenty…
Jerome on the Authorship of Daniel
Preface to the Book of Daniel
Porphyry wrote his twelfth book against the prophecy of Daniel, denying that it was composed by the person to whom it is ascribed in its title, but rather by some individual living in Judaea at the…
You may also like
Scrolls That Defile the Hands
m. Yadayim 3:5
A scroll on which the writing has become erased and eighty-five letters remain, as many as are in the section beginning And it came to pass when the ark set forward (Numbers 10:35–36) defiles the…
On the Sanctity of Ecclesiastes and Esther
b. Shabbat 30b|b. Megillah 7a
R. Judah, son of R. Samuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: The sages sought to suppress the book of Ecclesiastes [and declare it apocryphal] because its…
Eusebius’ Contents of the Jewish Canon
Ecclesiastical History 4.26
Accordingly when I came to the east and reached the place where these things were preached and done, and learnt accurately the books of the Old Testament, I set down the facts and sent them to you…
Melito’s Contents of the Jewish Canon
Ecclesiastical History 6.25
Now while expounding the first Psalm he set forth the catalogue of the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament, writing somewhat as follows in these words: “But it should be known that there are twenty…
Jerome on the Authorship of Daniel
Preface to the Book of Daniel
Porphyry wrote his twelfth book against the prophecy of Daniel, denying that it was composed by the person to whom it is ascribed in its title, but rather by some individual living in Judaea at the…