Ecclesiastes 4:4

Labor Motivated by Envy

4:4 Then I considered ¹  all the skillful work ²  that is done:

Surely it is nothing more than ³  competition ⁴  between one person and another. ⁵ 

This also is profitless – like ⁶  chasing the wind.

Matthew 26:8-9

26:8 When ⁷  the disciples saw this, they became indignant and said, “Why this waste? 26:9 It ⁸  could have been sold at a high price and the money ⁹  given to the poor!”

John 12:4-5

12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) ¹⁰  said, 12:5 “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins ¹¹  and the money ¹²  given to the poor?”

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[4:4]  ² 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.”

[4:4]  ³ tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:4]  ⁴ 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).

[4:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “a man and his neighbor.”

[4:4]  ⁶ tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[26:8]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:9]  ⁸ tn Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[26:9]  ⁹ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).

[12:4]  ¹⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth a standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking into account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).

[12:5]  ¹² tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).