68 John Makujina 1. Eating-Drinking With respect to the first institution, leisure,29 it is obvious that eating and drinking here, as elsewhere, do not point merely to consuming food and beverage for survival, but invoke images of “shalom”, festivity, fel- lowship, hospitality, and signify the pleasures that often attend corporate meals (Qoh 10,19)30. (It could be paraphrased: “they were enjoying good times”.) For example, in the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12,13-21), the normal collocation of “eating and drinking” is enhanced by the verbs “relax” and “be glad”: “relax, eat, drink, be glad” (Luke 12,19; similarly, Tob 7,10). Although this combination does not automatically generate a festive image (e.g., Exod 34,28; Deut 2,6.28; 1Sam 30,12; 2 Sam 12,3; 19,36; 1 Kgs 19,6.8) the context of Luke 17,27-28 clearly calls for this expanded sense31. Even more helpful than Luke 12,19 is 1 Kgs 4,20 because it annexes the same idiom to underscore the wealth and wellbeing of an era (compa- rable to the eras of Noah and Lot): “Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, eating and drinking and rejoicing”. But its usefulness may not end there, since the wellbeing of Solomon’s kingdom is also described in terms of population proliferation, “numerous as the Sand”. This again resembles the days of Noah (Luke 17,26-27). Although the correlation between population growth (1 Kgs 4,20) and marriage (Luke 17,27) is admittedly loose, 1 Kgs 4,20, nevertheless, testifies that prospering societies could be described in many of the same categories or institutions that we have proposed for the dyads in Luke 17,27-28 and Matt 24,38. 2. Planting-Building Likewise, planting and building cannot be restricted to people simply planting gardens and erecting houses, since both tasks incorporate a number of auxiliary activities. Planting also requires cultivating and har- 29 By leisure, I have in mind enjoying the fruits of labor (Qoh 5,17), rather than the modern connotation of recreation and avocation. 30 Cf. L. Ryken et al., eds., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Downers Grove, IL 1998), 226-227. See also Gen 24,54; 26,30; Exod 24,11; Judg 19,4.6.21; 1 Sam 30,16; 2 Sam 11,11; 1 Kgs 1,25; 4,20; 18,41.42; 2 Kgs 9,34; Isa 21,5; Jer 16,8; Qoh 2,24; 3,13; 5,17; 8,15; 9,7; Neh 8,12; 1 Chr 12,40; 29,22; Matt 11,18-19; Luke 5,30.33; 7,33-34; 10,7; 12,19; 13,26; 22,30; Acts 10,41. 31 So the examples of eating and drinking in the days of Lot: Gen 18,1-8; 19,3; 1Qap Gen 21.20-22. J. Zmijewski (Die Eschatologiereden, 434) suggests that the origin of this phrase in Noah’s day may be located in the wedding feasts that accompany marriages. But the recurrence of “eating and drinking” in the days of Lot speaks against it, as does the example of 1 Kgs 4,20. Excessive pleasure (i.e., intoxication) can also be attached to eating and drink- ing, but normally with clear indicators of the indulgence (Exod 32,6.25 [par. 1 Cor 10,7]; Judg 9,27; 2 Sam 11,13; Isa 22,13 [par. 1 Cor 15,32]; Job 1,4-5; Matt 24,49; Luke 12,45).