Texts in Conversation
The book of Tobit quotes Ecclesiastes 8, showing its dependence specifically on the Greek Septuagint translation. The saying was well known, quoted also in Isaiah and later in the New Testament.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 7:10
Deuterocanon
8 and Edna his wife wept for him, and Sarah their daughter also wept. 9 And he killed a ram of the flock and received them gladly. And when they had bathed, and washed their hands and laid them down to dine, Tobias said to Raphael, Brother Azarias, speak to Raguel that he give me Sarah my sister. 10 And Raguel heard the word and said to the young man, Eat and drink, and make merry this night: for there is no man to whom it belongs to take Sarah my daughter except you, brother; and likewise, further, I have not power to give her to another man than you, because you are my nearest kin. Yes, truly, I will show you the truth, lad.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Ecclesiastes 8:15
Septuagint
13 but it shall not be well with the ungodly, and he shall not prolong his days, which are as a shadow; since he does not fear before God. 14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there are righteous persons to whom it happens according to the doing of the ungodly; and there are ungodly men, to whom it happens according to the doing of the just: I said, This is also vanity. 15 Then I praised mirth, because there is no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry: and this shall attend him in his labor all the days of his life, which God has given him under the sun. 16 Then I set my heart to know wisdom, and to perceive the trouble that was done upon the earth: for there is that neither by day nor night sees sleep with his eyes.
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... the average person’s assumption was that if anyone grew richer there was less overall for everyone else. Some might have still seen this as a sign of God’s blessing but, as with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, in a milieu with 70-80 percent of people just eking out a marginal existence, the rich man in this parable would have been expected to share generously from his surplus. As Bock phrases it, “Jesus’ story is intriguing in that this man’s additional wealth fell into his lap, he came by his wealth honestly because God’s provision and kindness blessed him and yet such blessing still can present a problem of stewardship.” The language of “eat, drink and be merry” (for tomorrow you may die) in Luke 12:19 would have been heard in the Greco-Roman world as a jab, whether or not justified, at Epicureanism. Key Jewish uses of this proverb appear in Ecclesiastes 8:15, Isaiah 22:13 and Tobit 7:10; see also 1 Corinthians 15:32. This rich man will not merely die tomorrow, but this very night! ..."
Craig L. Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2012), 330.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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