T F Leong

Ecclesiastes is a persuasive speech with a rhetoric so unique that it can be easily misunderstood. It speaks powerfully to believers as well as nonbelievers because it addresses the question of the meaning of life in the most satisfying way. The heart of this book is an expositional commentary that interprets Ecclesiastes as authoritative Scripture. It seeks to recover the rhetoric of the speech in terms of its comprehensive message on the meaning of life as well as its compelling force to get the message across. Preceding the expositional commentary is an introduction to Ecclesiastes that presents a new approach to outlining and reading Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech. It also presents an overview of the forest--the overall rhetorical flow of the speech from beginning to end. This is to prevent one from getting lost when immersed in the trees of the expositional commentary. Following the expositional commentary are two topical studies to give Ecclesiastes the breadth and depth of coverage it deserves. The first is an interdisciplinary exposition on the meaning of life. The second is an interpretive essay to defend exegetically the interpretation of Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech.

Ecclesiastes is a persuasive speech with a rhetoric so unique that it can be easily misunderstood. It speaks powerfully to believers as well as nonbelievers because it addresses the question of the meaning of life in the most satisfying way. The heart of this book is an expositional commentary that interprets Ecclesiastes as authoritative Scripture. It seeks to recover the rhetoric of the speech in terms of its comprehensive message on the meaning of life as well as its compelling force to get the message across. Preceding the expositional commentary is an introduction to Ecclesiastes that presents a new approach to outlining and reading Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech. It also presents an overview of the forest--the overall rhetorical flow of the speech from beginning to end. This is to prevent one from getting lost when immersed in the trees of the expositional commentary. Following the expositional commentary are two topical studies to give Ecclesiastes the breadth and depth of coverage it deserves. The first is an interdisciplinary exposition on the meaning of life. The second is an interpretive essay to defend exegetically the interpretation of Ecclesiastes as a coherent speech.

The meaning of history is about the purpose and goal of history. According to the Old Testament this involves redeeming humanity and transforming civilization toward an eternal hope of a world in which every longing is fulfilled and every fear is no more. When the Old Testament is understood on its terms, it reveals a marvelous vision of that hope. To capture this vision as well as present credible reason for the hope, this book interweaves into one coherent exposition five strands of Old Testament studies usually separated into different books: theology, ethics, mission, history, apologetics.