Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 7:2
Context7:2 It is better to go to a funeral 1
than a feast. 2
For death 3 is the destiny 4 of every person, 5
and the living should 6 take this 7 to heart.
Isaiah 42:25
Context42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,
along with the devastation 8 of war.
Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; 9
it burned against them, but they did notice. 10
Isaiah 57:1
Contextbut no one cares. 12
Honest people disappear, 13
that the godly 16 disappear 17 because of 18 evil. 19
Malachi 2:2
Context2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously 20 the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment 21 on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.
[7:2] 1 tn Heb “house of mourning.” The phrase refers to a funeral where the deceased is mourned.
[7:2] 2 tn Heb “house of drinking”; or “house of feasting.” The Hebrew noun מִשְׁתֶּה (mishteh) can denote (1) “feast; banquet,” occasion for drinking-bouts (1 Sam 25:36; Isa 5:12; Jer 51:39; Job 1:5; Esth 2:18; 5:14; 8:17; 9:19) or (2) “drink” (exilic/postexilic – Ezra 3:7; Dan 1:5, 8, 16); see HALOT 653 s.v. מִשְׁתֶּה 4; BDB 1059 s.v. שָׁתַה.
[7:2] 3 tn Heb “it”; the referent (“death”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:2] 4 tn Heb “the end.” The noun סוֹף (sof) literally means “end; conclusion” (HALOT 747 s.v. סוֹף 1; BDB 693 s.v. סוֹף). It is used in this context in reference to death, as the preceding phrase “house of mourning” (i.e., funeral) suggests.
[7:2] 5 tn Heb “all men” or “every man.”
[7:2] 6 tn The imperfect tense verb יִתֵּן, yitten (from נָתָן, natan, “to give”) functions in a modal sense, denoting obligation, that is, the subject’s obligatory or necessary conduct: “should” or “ought to” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31-32, §172; IBHS 508-9 §31.4g).
[7:2] 7 tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[42:25] 8 tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”
[42:25] 9 tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around, but he did not know.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.
[42:25] 10 tn Heb “and it burned against him, but he did not set [it] upon [the] heart.”
[57:1] 11 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”
[57:1] 12 tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”
[57:1] 13 tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
[57:1] 14 tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.
[57:1] 15 tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[57:1] 16 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”
[57:1] 17 tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
[57:1] 18 tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).
[57:1] 19 tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.
[2:2] 20 tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”
[2:2] 21 tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”
