The Divine Violence in the Book of Qoheleth 549 the sun by the hand of their oppressors and there is none to speak to them comforting words, and there is none to redeem them from the hand of their attackers with a strong hand and with power and there is none to comfort them” (18). In this way, this ancient Jewish translation wishes to avoid a problematic reading of Qoheleth but indirectly confirms the original sense of the passage. Can one suppose then that Qoheleth holds God responsible for the violence present in the world? Qoheleth does not blame God directly for his indifference in the face of violence as Job does (see for exemple Job 24,12); rather he limits himself to observing something born from experience, the presence of violence in the world and, alongside it, the, at least apparent, absence of divine judgement on this violence. Qoheleth is not concerned with debating with God or calling him to account as Job does. Faced with the reality of violence and oppression, Qoheleth does not seem to be aware of the presence of a God who comforts the oppressed as, by contrast, Ben Sira is in a not too different context, in which he perhaps intends to reply to Qoheleth: “(God) will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. He will not ignore the supplication of the fatherless nor the widow when she pours out her story” (Sir 35,16-17). Ben Sira’s reply is certainly more reassuring. We do not find any theodicy in Qoheleth, at least in the way that we come across it in Ben Sira. While Qoheleth twice emphasises the absence of a divine comforter, his stress suggests that there ought to be such a comforter. As is the case elsewhere in the book, and especially in the controversial passage of Qoh 8,11-14 (cf. infra), “the absurdity consists of this contradiction between the principle of justice which is in the human mind and the widespread injustice which is seen in the world” (19). 3. The Figure of God in Qoheleth: a distant God? Is the God of Qoheleth the same as the God of the traditional faith of Israel? We know that Qoheleth never speaks of the biblical YHWH – only μyhla(h) appears in his book (20). (18) Cf. P.S. KNOBEL, Targum of Qoheleth (The Aramaic Bible 15; Edinburgh 1991) 30. Also the Midrash Qo. R. rereads our passage in an eschatological key. (19) V. D’ALARIO, “L’assurdità del male nella teodicea del Qohelet”, Initium Sapientiae (FS. F. Festorazzi) (ed. R. FABRIS) (Bologna 2000) 190. (20) For a general introduction to the problem of God in Qoheleth, cf. L. MAZZINGHI, Ho cercato e ho esplorato. Studi sul Qohelet (Bologna 22009) 409- 432.