104:15 as well as wine that makes people feel so good, 3
and so they can have oil to make their faces shine, 4
as well as food that sustains people’s lives. 5
31:6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, 6
and wine to those who are bitterly distressed; 7
10:19 Feasts 8 are made 9 for laughter,
and wine makes life merry, 10
but money is the answer 11 for everything.
1 sn The drink-offering was an ancient custom, mentioned in the Ugaritic tablets of Ras Shamra (14th century
2 tn Heb “for the one lamb,” but it clearly means “for each lamb.”
3 tn Heb “and wine [that] makes the heart of man happy.”
4 tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb צָהַל (tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of צָהַר (tsahar), a derivative from צָהָרִים (tsaharim, “noon”).
5 tn Heb “and food [that] sustains the heart of man.”
6 sn Wine and beer should be given to those distressed and dying in order to ease their suffering and help them forget.
7 tn Heb “to the bitter of soul.” The phrase לְמָרֵי נָפֶשׁ (lÿmare nafesh) has been translated “of heavy hearts” (KJV); “in anguish” (NIV); “in misery” (TEV); “in bitter distress” (NRSV); “sorely depressed” (NAB); “in deep depression (NLT); “have lost all hope” (CEV). The word “bitter” (מַר, mar) describes the physical and mental/spiritual suffering as a result of affliction, grief, or suffering – these people are in emotional pain. So the idea of “bitterly distressed” works as well as any other translation.
8 tn Heb “bread.” The term לֶחֶם (lekhem) is used literally of “bread” and figuratively (i.e., by metonymy) for a “feast” (BDB 536–37 s.v. לֶחֶם). BDB suggests that עֹשִׂיה לֶחֶם (’osih lekhem) in Eccl 10:19 means “make a feast” (BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 1.a). This obscure line has occasioned numerous proposals: “a feast is made for laughter” (KJV, ASV, NIV); “feasts are made for laughter” (NRSV); “men feast for merrymaking” (Moffatt); “men prepare a meal for enjoyment” (NASB); “the table has its pleasures” (NEB); “they [i.e., rulers of v. 16] make a banquet for revelry” (NJPS); “people prepare a banquet for enjoyment” (MLB); “for laughter they make bread and wine, that the living may feast” (Douay); “bread is made for laughter” (RSV); “bread [and oil] call forth merriment” (NAB).
9 tn The subject of the verb is not specified. When active verbs have an unspecified subject, they are often used in a passive sense: “Bread [feasts] are made….”
10 tn Heb “and wine gladdens life.”
11 tn Or “and [they think that] money is the answer for everything.”