9:6 What they loved, 1 as well as what they hated 2 and envied, 3 perished long ago,
and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth. 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 “their love.”
2 tn Heb “their hatred.”
3 tn Heb “their envy.”
4 tn Heb “under the sun.”
5 tn Heb “saw.”
6 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.”
7 tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 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).
9 tn Heb “a man and his neighbor.”
10 tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.