Godišnji znanstveni skup
Filozofija i filodoksija

Zagreb, 19. i 20. prosinca 2002.
Velika dvorana Instituta za filozofiju
Ulica grada Vukovara 54/V

ADALBERT REBIĆ
Kohelet (Propovjednik) – Susret židovske i helenističke mudrosti

U svom razmišljanju o temeljnim stvarnostima ljudskoga života Izrael se oduvijek koristio i mudrošću susjednih naroda; biblijski mudraci nisu živjeli u zatvorenu svijetu, nego je njihovo razmišljanje imalo poticaje i u Egiptu, Mezopotamiji i na posljetku u grčkom (helenističkom) svijetu. U izlaganju ću pokazati kako su se Židovi potkraj SZ počeli preuzimati neke vidove helenističke filozofije. To se najbolje vidi iz knjige Koheleta (Propovjednika) koja spada među mudrosne knjige SZ. Mudrosne su knjige (Sirah, Mudre izreke, Mudrost, Job) uopće jedno od povlaštenih mjesta susreta i komunikacije starozavjetnih vjernika s mudrošću “sinova ljudskih”. Kohelet je napisan u doba kada je Palestina bila pod upravom grčkih vladara iz dinastije Seleukovića (oko 190./180.). Grčka politička dominacija pogodovala je širenju helenističke kulture: u Judeji su se osnivale gimnazije, škole, gradili hramovi, tržnice, trgovine po uzoru na grčki svijet. Grčki je jezik prodirao u svakidašnjicu Judejaca (Židova) i potiskivao aramejski i hebrejski jezik. U području odgoja, u načinu shvaćanja života i svijeta, grčka (helenistička) filozofija imala je značajnu ulogu. Ona je imala odraza i na biblijski način mišljenja. Bila je to prva veća inkulturacija Biblije u suvremeni (onda helenistički) svijet. Taj je svijet u kojemje živio Kohelet bio kozmopolitski i eklektički. U njem Kohelet nije gledao svog protivnika nego suradnika, ponuđenu pomoć u razmišljanju. On nije u susretu s helenističkom mišlju napustio svoju tradicionalnu izraelsku mudrost, nego je oboje pokušao spojiti u jednu uspješnu sintezu. Uskladio je svoja razmišljanja s helenističkim, ali nije izdao svoj biblijski identitet (“Zakon i proroci”). On je davao i primao: biblijska razmišljanaj o stvaranju, prapočetcima ljudske povijesti, grijehu (knjiga Postanka) nudio je suvremenom, velikim dijelom, protubožanskom svjetskom carstvu (apologetsko-misionarsko nastojanje). On je poznavao Aristotela, Platona, cinike, cirinejce, skeptike, epikurejce i stoike. Oni su uostalom bili u njegovo vrijeme predmet poduke u školama. I kao što je njegov hebrejski moderan, razvijen i elegantan u odnosu na stari biblijski hebrejski (proroci i povijesne knjige) takoje i njegova misao moderna i usklađena s novim postignućima koje je Židov, suvremenik helenizacije, dobro poznavao. Grčka sintaksa i stereotipi grčke izobrazbe prepoznatljivi su u Koheletu (pa i u Sirahu koji je nastao u isto vrijeme). Kohelet iznosi svoj nauk po uzoru na grčke putujuće filozofe koji su javno, na trgovima i tržnicama, iznosili svoju mudrost. Oko sebe je skupljao (hebr. kohel) učenike. Kohelet odaje pisca, čovjeka visoke izobrazbe i kulture. Njegova su razmišljanja bila općenito prihvaćena, njegova knjiga postala je predmetom školske nastave, tako te je poslije ušla u popis bogoslužnih knjiga vezanih uz Hram (židovski kanon). To je knjiga učitelja i mislioca (u tom smislu apologetsko-misionarska a ne djelo proroka ili ratnika (kao 1. i 2. Makabejska knjiga). Njegovo je razmišljanje srodno s filozofskim egzistencijalnim razmišljanjem. Kohelet analizira ljudsko razmišljanje kao bitak u stalnom kretanju (trenutci) i u smrti pojedinca završenom vremenu. Premda koji puta u tom razmišljanju za tradicionalno biblijsko razmišljanje izazovan, ipak nikad nije prešao u iracionalno, skeptično, ateistično razmišljanje, jer je uvijek vodio računa o Bogu koji u svijetu jedini suvereno djeluje, pred kojim će čovjek odgovarati za sve svoje razmišljanje, govorenje i djelanje.Tako je Kohelet najizrazitije mjesto susreta biblijske mudrosti s grčkom filozofijom unutar Biblije.

Kohelet (Preacher) – The Encounter of Jewish and Hellenistic Wisdom

In its reflection on the fundamental realities of human life, Israel has always utilised the wisdom of its neighbouring nations; the wise men of the Bible did not live in a closed world; it is rather the case that their reflections had stimuli in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and finally in the Greek (Hellenistic) world. The author will show that at the end of the Old Testament the Jews started to take over certain aspects of Hellenistic philosophy. This is best perceived in the book Kohelet (Preacher), which is one of the books of wisdom of the Old Testament. The books of wisdom (Sirah, Wise Sayings, Wisdom, Job) are generally one of the privileged places of the encounter and communication of the theists of the Old Testament with the wisdom of the “sons of men”. Kohelet was written during the time that Palestine was under the rule of Greek governors from the Seleuković dynasty (approx. 190/180). This Greek political domination was fertile ground for the spread of Hellenistic culture: the gymnasiums and schools established, the temples, markets and stores built in Judea were all on the model of the Greek world. The Greek language penetrated the everyday life of Judaeans (Jews) and pressed back the Aramaic and Hebrew. Greek (Hellenistic) philosophy played a significant role in the field of education, in the way that life and the world were understood. It also reflected in the Biblical way of thinking. This was the first greater in-culturisation of the Bible into the contemporary (then Hellenistic) world. The world in which Kohelet lived was cosmopolitan and eclectic. In such a world, Kohelet did not perceive his adversaries, but his associates, the help offered in reflection. In his encounter with Hellenistic thought, he did not abandon his traditional Israeli wisdom, but rather tried to unite the two into a successful synthesis. He co-ordinated his reflections with those of the Hellenistic tradition, though did not betray his Biblical identity (“Law and Prophets”). He gave and accepted: he offered the Biblical reflections on creation, on the earliest origins of human history, on sin (the Book of Genesis) to the modern, for the most part counter-theist worldly kingdom (apologetic-missionary aspiration). He was acquainted with Aristotle, Plato, the cynics, the Cyrenaics, the sceptics, the Epicureans and Stoics. After all, they were part of the school curricula in his time. His thought is just as modern and harmonised with the latest achievements, which a Jew, a contemporary of Hellenisation, knew well, as his Hebrew, which is not only modern, but also well developed and elegant in relation to the old Biblical Hebrew (the Prophets and historical books). The Greek syntax and the stereotypes of Greek education are recognisable in Kohelet (as well as in Sirah, which originated at the same time).
Kohelet displays his doctrine on the model of Greek travelling philosophers, who expounded their wisdom publicly, on squares and markets. He gathered (Hebrew kohel) students around him. A writer, a man of high education and culture is disclosed in Kohelet. His thoughts were generally accepted, his book became a teaching subject, and later entered the list of liturgical books connected to the Temple (the Jewish canon). This book is the book of teachers and thinkers (and it is in this sense that it is an apologetic-missionary, rather than a prophetic or warrior’s work (as 1st and 2nd Maccabean Book)). His thinking is akin to philosophical existential thinking. Kohelet analyses human thinking as being in uninterrupted motion (moments) and in completed time in the death of the individual. Even though his thoughts are challenging for traditional Biblical thinking every now and then, he, nevertheless, never crosses over to irrational, sceptical, atheistic thinking, since he always pays attention to God, the only one who acts in the world sovereignly, before whom man will answer for all his thinking, talking and acting. Thus, Kohelet is the most expressive place of the encounter of Biblical wisdom with Greek philosophy within the Bible.