1:16 I thought to myself, 1
“I have become much wiser 2 than any of my predecessors who ruled 3 over Jerusalem; 4
I 5 have acquired much wisdom and knowledge.” 6
3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;
nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.
God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
4:16 There is no end to all the people 7 nor to the past generations, 8
yet future generations 9 will not rejoice in him.
This also is profitless and like 10 chasing the wind.
5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God,
for God is in heaven and you are on earth!
Therefore, let your words be few.
5:6 Do not let your mouth cause you 11 to sin,
and do not tell the priest, 12 “It was a mistake!” 13
Why make God angry at you 14
so that he would destroy the work of your hands?”
7:26 I discovered this: 15
More bitter than death is the kind of 16 woman 17 who is like a hunter’s snare; 18
her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.
The man who pleases God escapes her,
but the sinner is captured by her.
8:12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes 19 and still live a long time, 20
yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people 21 – for they stand in fear 22 before him.
9:1 So I reflected on all this, 23 attempting to clear 24 it all up.
I concluded that 25 the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;
whether a person will be loved or hated 26 –
no one knows what lies ahead. 27
1 tn Heb “I spoke, I, with my heart.”
2 tn Heb “I, look, I have made great and increased wisdom.” The expression הִגְדַּלְתִּי וְהוֹסַפְתִּי (higdalti vÿhosafti) is a verbal hendiadys; it means that Qoheleth had become the wisest man in the history of Jerusalem.
3 tn The phrase “who ruled” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tn Heb “my heart” (לִבִּי, libbi). The term “heart” is a metonymy of part for the whole (“my heart” = myself).
6 tn Heb “My heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.”
7 tn Heb “the people.” The term עַם (’am, “people”) can refer to the subjects of the king (BDB 766 s.v. עַם 2).
8 tn Heb “those who were before them.”
9 tn Heb “those coming after.” The Hebrew term הָאַחֲרוֹנִים (ha’akharonim, “those coming after”) is derived from the preposition אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”). When used in reference to time, it refers to future generations (e.g., Deut 29:21; Pss 48:14; 78:4, 6; 102:19; Job 18:20; Eccl 1:11; 4:16); cf. HALOT 36 s.v. אַחַר B.3; BDB 30 s.v. אַחַר 2.b).
10 tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “your flesh.” The term בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., flesh) for the whole (i.e., whole person), e.g., Gen 2:21; 6:12; Ps 56:4[5]; 65:2[3]; 145:21; Isa 40:5, 6; see HALOT 164 s.v. בָּשָׂר; E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 642.
14 tc The MT reads הַמַּלְאָךְ (hammal’akh, “messenger”), while the LXX reads τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou, “God”) which reflects an alternate textual tradition of הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim, “God”). The textual problem was caused by orthographic confusion between similarly spelled words. The LXX might have been trying to make sense of a difficult expression. The MT is preferred as the original. All the major translations follow the MT except for Moffatt (“God”).
15 tn The Hebrew noun שְׁגָגָה (shÿgagah) denotes “error; mistake” and refers to a sin of inadvertence or unintentional sin (e.g., Lev 4:2, 22, 27; 5:18; 22:14; Num 15:24-29; 35:11, 15; Josh 20:3, 9; Eccl 5:5; 10:5); see HALOT 1412 s.v. שְׁגָגָה; BDB 993 s.v. שְׁגָגָה. In this case, it refers to a rash vow thoughtlessly made, which the foolish worshiper claims was a mistake (e.g., Prov 20:25).
16 tn Heb “at your voice.” This is an example of metonymy (i.e., your voice) of association (i.e., you).
19 tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
20 tn The phrase “kind of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “woman”).
21 tn The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah) functions in a particularizing sense (“the kind of woman”) rather than in a generic sense (i.e., “women”).
22 tn Heb “is snares.” The plural form מְצוֹדִים (mÿtsodim, from the noun I מָצוֹד, matsod, “snare”) is used to connote either intensity, repeated or habitual action, or moral characteristic. For the function of the Hebrew plural, see IBHS 120-21 §7.4.2. The term II מָצוֹד “snare” is used in a concrete sense in reference to the hunter’s snare or net, but in a figurative sense of being ensnared by someone (Job 19:6; Prov 12:12; Eccl 7:26).
25 tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”
26 tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”
27 tn Heb “those who fear God.”
28 tn Heb “they fear.”
31 tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”
32 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.
33 tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
34 tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”
35 tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”