The Book of Asceticism (Commentary on Ecclesiastes)

If one considers matters of knowledge that are expressed verbally, one will find [verbal expressions] to be of two types. The first is correctly conceived, expressed concisely, and corresponds to the true reality of the concepts, so they are understood according to their principles and intentions. The second, however, may conceive the logical concept correctly but expresses it poorly and inaccurately, so that it distorts the meaning. The concept will not be understood, and the objective will be lost because of the bungling of the verbal expression, even though the concept exists.

So, too, with regard to the recipient [of an expression], who can be one of two types. One may, through these words, attain proper knowledge of the subject and know the true reality of its structure and the concept it conveys. Such a person attains the goal intended by it [the speech], insofar as he grasps the concept conveyed or the law imposed upon him. One, however, who understands the concept but is ignorant of the wording is unable to reach the meanings and is incapable of receiving them, since he does not know the truth of the matter and cannot distinguish between true and false.

This is the way of our sacred writings, which were revealed and are the speech of God and of the prophets who were brought close [to God], [both of] which have eloquence and brevity. The concepts are expressed [in scripture] by words that correspond [to the concepts]; they were transmitted to those obliged to observe the precepts, the servants of God, and it became evidence for them, since only one who possesses reason and understanding and is able to engage in logical deduction can be commanded.

In regard [to these commands,] one must resort to the masters of tradition who are established in one’s time and to the experts of wisdom found in one’s place, according to what He guaranteed in His revelation in the chapter: If there arises a matter too hard for you to judge, between blood and blood [ . . . ] you shall come to the Levitical priests, and to the judge that shall be in those days [ . . . ] (Deuteronomy 17:8–9), and the rest that follows. And the situation was like this uninterruptedly during the age of revelation. [ . . . ]

Upon proper consideration, I have found that the masters of tradition are to be preferred to the [mere] transmitters of revelation [i.e., the prophets], since their [legal] deductions originate from their natural intelligence, and they make deductions from [legal] principles and “extract the branches from the roots.” However, they [the prophets] merely recapitulate revelation and are guided by prophecy. You already know that the word of the prophet Nathan to David was: Go do all that you have in mind, for the Lord is with you (2 Samuel 7:3)—but it failed. [And you know] the effectiveness of the decision of Solomon in the case of the two women—it succeeded. These kinds of endeavors were meant by the one who said, “A sage is preferable to a prophet” [b. Bava Batra 12a].

And since God preferred the scholars and raised up the sages, and He poured forth His light and intellectual power upon them, they [the sages], in turn, poured forth abundance from their own power and strength, and clarity flowed from their essence. They [the sages] thus achieved [with God’s help] what their imagination could not have conceived nor their senses comprehended with regard to disclosing concepts, clarifying doubtful matters, and resolving difficulties. They transmitted [this information] to their disciples in the easiest and simplest way. And it happened that those who were far from them and those who left them could not achieve this because of their distance and the impossibility of reaching them. Therefore, they could not [properly] grasp what they were studying and could not complete their learning because of their absence [from the centers of study]. Sending messengers to them was impossible, since they [i.e., the messengers] could not memorize what they needed to learn and know, since their lives were too short, and since the teachers perished. The sciences were vanishing, wisdom was disappearing, interpretations became deficient and were forgotten, and ignorance became prevalent.

And it was due to the great providence of the Lord and to His immense guidance that He inspired them to put their sciences into writing and to gather these together into compilations and books, so they could become established and would be preserved and could reach both those who were living far away in distant lands and those who were present, and their descendants—so interpretations would be complete and information would be perfect, so reports about those who had died would be preserved and explications of past generations would be confirmed, so those who forgot would be guided and the negligent would be instructed. Thus, everyone took this path, age after age, generation after generation, with divine assistance.

The sage [Solomon, traditionally considered the author of Ecclesiastes]—being concerned about knowledge and cautious about those who claim it for themselves, feeling compassion for it and fearing that it might become obliterated, forgotten, and effaced—urged: Of making many books there is no end (Ecclesiastes 12:12), referring to the act of putting the sciences into writing and collecting the various disciplines into books containing them, so that they would be studied and preserved despite the passage of time, conserved despite the passing of days. In a similar vein, it was said in revelation [i.e., scripture]: Write this as a reminder in a book (Exodus 17:14); Now therefore write this song (Deuteronomy 31:19). And it was said to one of the prophets: Go now, write it before them on a tablet, etc. (Isaiah 30:8). And one of the excellent ones said wishfully: O that my words were written down [ . . . ] with an iron pen (Job 19:23–24). All this was driven by concern for information and fear that it might disappear.