John H. Choi, «The Doctrine of the Golden Mean in Qoh 7,15-18: A Universal Human Pursuit», Vol. 83 (2002) 358-374

Two issues surrounding the doctrine of the golden mean in Qoh 7,15-18 are addressed. First, a review and critique of previous research demonstrates that the passage indeed supports the golden mean, and does not present a theological problem to the reader. Secondly, the view that the golden mean is a Hellenistic product is challenged by considering: (1) the dating and (2) nature of cultural exchange between Greece and the Near East; (3) linguistic data indicating an early date of composition for Qoheleth; and (4) the presence of Near Eastern and Eastern ideas of the golden mean. These four factors demonstrate that the golden mean in Qoheleth likely is not of Greek origin from the time of Alexander the Great, but is likely a universal phenomenon.

Do not remove you(rself) from wisdom and [let] n[ot = lest]
Do not be overly clever [and] let not (=lest) [your...] be extinguished 
(Or: Do not gaze overmuch [and] not let {lest} [your] vi[sion] be dimmed.)
Do not be too sweet and [let] them not (= lest they) swallow you.
Do not be bitter [and let them not ( = lest they) spit you out] ⁷⁸. 

        This work was one of the best known and most widely disseminated works in the Near East⁷⁹, and of distinctly Semitic origin, and so, there is no need to postulate a Greek influence that may have carried this idea to Qoheleth. The idea of moderation is also reflected in the Egyptian work The Instruction of the Vizier Ptah-Hotep, dating to Middle Kingdom Egypt. A part of the instructions state "Take counsel with the ignorant as well as the wise"⁸⁰. A latter portion of the text also reads "Greater is the respect for the mild (than) for the strong"⁸¹.

        There are also two sources from the Far East that place a heavy emphasis on the golden mean. The first is found in the teachings of Buddhism. A collection of the teachings of the Buddha, called "The Sermon at Benares", details the lifestyle of the Tathagata⁸², the perfect one, who is the individual who lives by the middle path⁸³. The Buddha states:

There are two extremes...which the man who has given up the world ought not to follow – the habitual practice, on the one hand, of self-indulgence which is unworthy vanity and fit only for the worldly-minded — and the habitual practice, on the other hand, of self-mortification, which is painful, useless and unprofitable⁸⁴.

        The founder of the movement, the prince Sidahhata Gautama, shares remarkable biographical details with the textual presentation of the "life" of Qoheleth⁸⁵, in particular in the manner in which the