Qohelet’s satire of the chores: Ecclesiastes 10.8–11, the Teaching of Khety, and the limits of wisdom

This study offers an interpretation of Ecclesiastes 10.8–11 in light of the Egyptian literary topos of scribal satire most popularly exemplified by the Teaching of Khety. Scholars have traditionally posited a link between Khety and Sirach 38.24—39.11, yet Qohelet likewise lists a series of tasks, their outcomes, and, at the end, the superiority of some other thing. Unlike the Egyptian motif and Sirach, however, Qohelet’s teaching is brief and a mere setup for the punchline he provides in the final part of his message (v. 11) where he repudiates the view that wisdom makes one invincible. Rather than judge the snake charmer of verse 11 to be lazy, unprepared, incompetent, or slow (all popular readings), Qohelet sees the conjuror’s wisdom as useless before a serpent that cannot be charmed in the first place. By this assessment, wisdom itself is shown to be inadequate rather than the worker.