Ecclesiastes 9:1-3

Everyone Will Die

9:1 So I reflected on all this, ¹  attempting to clear ²  it all up.

I concluded that ³  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;

whether a person will be loved or hated ⁴  –

no one knows what lies ahead. ⁵ 

9:2 Everyone shares the same fate ⁶  –

the righteous and the wicked,

the good and the bad, ⁷ 

the ceremonially clean and unclean,

those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; ⁸ 

what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.

9:3 This is the unfortunate fact ⁹  about everything that happens on earth: ¹⁰ 

the same fate awaits ¹¹  everyone.

In addition to this, the hearts of all people ¹²  are full of evil,

and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die. ¹³ 

Ezekiel 21:3-4

21:3 and say to them, ¹⁴  ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, ¹⁵  I am against you. ¹⁶  I will draw my sword ¹⁷  from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁸  21:4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone ¹⁹  from the south ²⁰  to the north.

Luke 13:2-4

13:2 He ²¹  answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners ²²  than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things? 13:3 No, I tell you! But unless you repent, ²³  you will all perish as well! ²⁴  13:4 Or those eighteen who were killed ²⁵  when the tower in Siloam fell on them, ²⁶  do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem? ²⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”

² tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction + Qal infinitive construct from בּוּר, bur, “to make clear”) denotes “to examine; to make clear; to clear up; to explain” (HALOT 116 s.v. בור; BDB 101 s.v. בּוּר). The term is related to Arabic baraw “to examine” (G. R. Driver, “Supposed Arabisms in the Old Testament,” JBL 55 [1936]: 108). This verb is related to the Hebrew noun בֹּר (bor, “cleanness”) and adjective בַּר (bar, “clean”). The term is used in the OT only in Ecclesiastes (1:13; 2:3; 7:25; 9:1). This use of the infinitive has a connotative sense (“attempting to”), and functions in a complementary sense, relative to the main verb.

³ tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”

⁵ tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”

⁶ tn Heb “all things just as to everyone, one fate.”

⁷ tc The MT reads simply “the good,” but the Greek versions read “the good and the bad.” In contrast to the other four pairs in v. 2 (“the righteous and the wicked,” “those who sacrifice, and those who do not sacrifice,” “the good man…the sinner,” and “those who make vows…those who are afraid to make vows”), the MT has a triad in the second line: לַטּוֹב וְלַטָּהוֹר וְלַטָּמֵא (lattov vÿlattahor vÿlattame’, “the good, and the clean, and the unclean”). This reading in the Leningrad Codex (ca. a.d. 1008) – the basis of the BHS and BHK publications of the MT – is also supported by the Ben Asher text of the First Rabbinic Bible (“the Soncino Bible”) published in a.d. 1488-94. On the other hand, the Greek version in B (Aquila) has two pairs: τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ τῷ κακῷ, καὶ τῷ καθαρῷ καὶ τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ (“the good and the bad, and the clean and the unclean”). Either Aquila inserted καὶ τῷ κακῷ (kai tw kakw, “and the bad”) to fill out a pair and to create six parallel pairs in v. 2, or Aquila reflects an early Hebrew textual tradition tradition of לַטּוֹב וְלַרָע (lattov vÿlara’, “the good and the bad”). Since Aquila is well known for his commitment to a literal – at times even a mechanically wooden – translation of the Hebrew, with no room for improvisation, it is more than likely that Aquila is reflecting an authentic Hebrew textual tradition. Aquila dates to a.d. 130, while the Leningrad Codex dates to a.d. 1008; therefore, the Vorlage of Aquila might have been the original Hebrew textual tradition, being much earlier than the MT of the Leningrad Codex. The alternate textual tradition of Aquila is also seen in the Syriac and Latin versions (but these are dependent upon the Greek = Aquila). On the other hand, the editors of BHK and BHS suggest that the presence of the anomalous לַטּוֹב was an addition to the Hebrew text, and should be deleted. They also suggest that the Greek pair τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ τῷ κακῷ (tw agaqw kai tw kakw, “the good and the bad”) does not reflect an alternate textual tradition, but that their Vorlage contained only לַטּוֹב: the Greek version intentionally added καὶ τῷ κακῷ (kai tw kakw, “and the bad”) to create a pair. The English versions are divided. Several follow the Greek: “the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean” (NEB, NAB, RSV, NRSV, NIV, Moffatt, NLT). Others follow the Hebrew: “the good and the clean and the unclean” (KJV, ASV, MLB, NJPS). None, however, delete “the good” (לַטּוֹב) as suggested by the BHK and BHS editors. If the shorter text were original, the addition of καὶ τῷ κακῷ would be intentional. If the longer text were original, the omission of וְלַרָע (“and the bad”) could have caused by unintentional homoioarcton (“similar beginning”) in the three-fold repetition of לט in וְלַרָע וְלַטָּהוֹר וְלַטָּמֵא לַטּוֹב (lattov vÿlara’ vÿlattahor vÿlattame’, “the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean”). The term וְלַרָע (“and the bad”) was accidentally omitted when a scribe skipped from the first occurrence of לט in לַטּוֹב to its second occurrence in the word וְלַטָּהוֹר (“the clean”).

⁸ tn Heb “As is the good (man), so is the sinner.”

⁹ tn Heb “evil.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.”

¹¹ tn The term “awaits” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.

¹² tn Heb “also the heart of the sons of man.” Here “heart” is a collective singular.

¹³ tn Heb “and after that [they go] to [the place of] the dead.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “the land of Israel.”

¹⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.

¹⁶ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.

¹⁷ sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.

¹⁸ sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.

¹⁹ tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).

²⁰ tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.

²¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

²² sn Jesus did not want his hearers to think that tragedy was necessarily a judgment on these people because they were worse sinners.

²³ sn Jesus was stressing that all stand at risk of death, if they do not repent and receive life.

²⁴ tn Or “you will all likewise perish,” but this could be misunderstood to mean that they would perish by the same means as the Galileans. Jesus’ point is that apart from repentance all will perish.

²⁵ tn Grk “on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them.” This relative clause embedded in a prepositional phrase is complex in English and has been simplified to an adjectival and a temporal clause in the translation.

²⁶ sn Unlike the previous event, when the tower in Siloam fell on them, it was an accident of fate. It raised the question, however, “Was this a judgment?”

²⁷ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.