3:22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people 1 to enjoy their work, 2
because that is their 3 reward;
for who can show them what the future holds? 4
6:12 For no one knows what is best for a person during his life 5 –
during the few days of his fleeting life –
for 6 they pass away 7 like a shadow.
Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth. 8
8:7 Surely no one knows the future, 9
and no one can tell another person what will happen. 10
4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town 11 and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 4:14 You 12 do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? 13 For you are a puff of smoke 14 that appears for a short time and then vanishes.
1 tn Heb “man.”
2 tn Heb “his works.”
3 tn Heb “his.”
4 tn Heb “what will be after him” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV) or “afterward” (cf. NJPS).
5 tn Heb “For who knows what is good for a man in life?” The rhetorical question (“For who knows…?”) is a negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “For no one knows…!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). The translation renders this rhetorical device as a positive affirmation.
6 tn The vav prefixed to וְיַעֲשֵׂם (vÿya’asem, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from עָשַׂה, ’asah, “to do” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) functions in an explanatory or epexegetical sense (“For …”).
7 tn The 3rd person masculine plural suffix on the verb וְיַעֲשֵׂם (vÿya’asem, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from ָָעשַׂה, ’asah, “to do” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) refers to מִסְפַּר יְמֵי־חַיֵּי הֶבְלוֹ (mispar yÿme-khayye hevlo, “the few days of his fleeting life”). The suffix may be taken as an objective genitive: “he spends them [i.e., the days of his life] like a shadow” (HALOT 891 s.v. I ָָעשַׂה 8) or as a subjective genitive: “they [i.e., the days of his life] pass like a shadow” (BDB 795 s.v. ָָעשַׂה II.11).
8 tn Heb “Who can tell the man what shall be after him under the sun?” The rhetorical question (“For who can tell him…?”) is a negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “For no one can tell him…!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). The translation renders this rhetorical device as a positive affirmation.
9 tn Heb “what will be.”
10 tn Heb “Who can tell him what will be?”
11 tn Or “city.”
12 tn Grk “who” (continuing the description of the people of v. 13). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
13 tn Or “you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.”
14 tn Or “a vapor.” The Greek word ἀτμίς (atmis) denotes a swirl of smoke arising from a fire (cf. Gen 19:28; Lev 16:13; Joel 2:30 [Acts 2:19]; Ezek 8:11).