The time is long overdue for recognizing, as Ehrlich observed, that the Bible is not a collection of religious texts, but, rather, “a national literature upon a religious foundation”. Only from this point of view can the reader savor fully the vitality, color and broad humanity of the Bible and appreciate the variety in outlook, temperament and mode of expression to be found within its pages.
Robert Gordis, Koheleth – The Man and His World: A Study of Ecclesiastes, 3rd ed. (Shocken Books: New York, 1968), 87.