17:28 When David’s 1 oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, he became angry 2 with David and said, “Why have you come down here? To whom did you entrust those few sheep in the desert? I am familiar with your pride and deceit! 3 You have come down here to watch the battle!”
17:29 David replied, “What have I done now? Can’t I say anything?” 4
4:4 Then I considered 5 all the skillful work 6 that is done:
Surely it is nothing more than 7 competition 8 between one person and another. 9
This also is profitless – like 10 chasing the wind.
1 tn Heb “his”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “the anger of Eliab became hot.”
3 tn Heb “the wickedness of your heart.”
4 tn Heb “Is it not [just] a word?”
7 tn Heb “saw.”
8 tn Heb “all the toil and all the skill.” This Hebrew clause (אֶת־כָּל־עָמָל וְאֵת כָּל־כִּשְׁרוֹן, ’et-kol-’amal vÿ’et kol-kishron) is a nominal hendiadys (a figurative expression in which two independent phrases are used to connote the same thing). The second functions adverbially, modifying the first, which retains its full nominal function: “all the skillful work.”
9 tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
10 tn The noun קִנְאַה (qin’ah, “competition”) has a wide range of meanings: “zeal; jealousy; envy; rivalry; competition; suffering; animosity; anger; wrath” (HALOT 1110 s.v.; BDB 888 s.v.). Here, as in 9:6, it denotes “rivalry” (BDB 888 s.v. 1) or “competitive spirit” (HALOT 1110 s.v. 1.b). The LXX rendered it ζῆλος (zhlos, “envy; jealousy”). The English versions reflect this broad range: “rivalry” (NEB, NAB, NASB), “envy” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, MLB, NIV, NJPS), and “jealousy” (Moffatt).
11 tn Heb “a man and his neighbor.”
12 tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.