POST STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION until this line is removed.
Wait, need to reclassify the numbers. Just hit me, what those datelines might mean and yes there are three. Talk to God, k? Two agree, etc.
Seems like Solomon is adopting the Genesis 1/John meter style of using every clause as a date. But for SURE he's playing on the Davidic 14s in
2Sam23. If we just go by verses to eliminate quibbles over where the clauses parse, 2Sam23:1 is 42 syllables, and 23:2 is 14. Verse 3 is 28, elision of some kind has to occur between the end of elohe and the start of Yisrael. So the total is 84 syllables.
I just don't know exactly what he benchmarks.
I had to fix it, so if you downloaded it prior to 4/7/17 at 10:30 pm Central Time US, you need to download it again. Next I'll try to fill in what's below.
I, Solomon, write you 14th/14 year after
which is 56 years after
when David would have been age 91, the Temple was Dedicated
and I'm writing when he would have been age 119?
and I'm writing when the Kingship of Israel (since Saul) is 119 years old (play on Moses writing en 1:5 when he was 119)?
So Solomon is writing Ecc in his last year of reign. So whatever time he was out of fellowship, it's not when he
writes Ecc, so it's retrospective exposition. Or maybe Chap1 is a cover letter of sorts, and he's now PUBLISHING stuff he wrote when out of fellowship.
Wait, gotta rethink.
Given the changed meter in 2Sam23, suggest you make 1a=6 syllables and 5b=4, for if you do that makes it clearer Solomon is aping David's syllable counts,
changing first dateline to 70 when Solomon began rule. His age 80 when Temple construction began, age 91 when Temple Dedicated, and 119 remain intact.
Those changes then also reflect the paired 15s David uses and match when he became king at Hebron. I suspect the resultant 76 should be 77 but don't know how.
But then, we have 70 91 119 as datelines. What do they mean? Not sure. BBL.