4:4 Then I considered 1 all the skillful work 2 that is done:
Surely it is nothing more than 3 competition 4 between one person and another. 5
This also is profitless – like 6 chasing the wind.
1 tn Heb “saw.”
2 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.”
3 tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 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).
5 tn Heb “a man and his neighbor.”
6 tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
8 tn Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
9 tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).
10 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
11 tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth a standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking into account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).
12 tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).