Ecclesiastes 1:8

1:8 All this ¹  monotony ²  is tiresome; no one can bear ³  to describe it: ⁴ 

The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content ⁵  with hearing.

Ecclesiastes 6:10

The Futile Way Life Works

6:10 Whatever has happened was foreordained, ⁶ 

and what happens to a person ⁷  was also foreknown.

It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate

because God is more powerful than he is. ⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 7:28

7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;

I have found only ⁹  one upright ¹⁰  man among a thousand,

but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

Ecclesiastes 8:13

8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,

nor will they ¹¹  prolong their ¹²  days like a shadow, ¹³ 

because they ¹⁴  do not stand in fear ¹⁵  before God.

[1:8]  ¹ tn The word “this” is not in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “the things.” The Hebrew term דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, masculine plural noun from דָּבָר, davar) is often used to denote “words,” but it can also refer to actions and events (HALOT 211 s.v. דָּבָר 3.a; BDB 183 s.v. דָּבָר IV.4). Here, it means “things,” as is clear from the context: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (1:9). Here דְּבָרִים can be nuanced “occurrences” or even “[natural] phenomena.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “is able.”

[1:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has no stated object. The translation supplies “it” for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn The term מָלֵא (male’, “to be filled, to be satisfied”) is repeated in 1:7-8 to draw a comparison between the futility in the cycle of nature and human secular accomplishments: lots of action, but no lasting effects. In 1:7 אֵינֶנּוּ מָלֵא (’enennu male’, “it is never filled”) describes the futility of the water cycle: “All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never filled.” In 1:8 וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵא (vÿlo-timmale’, “it is never satisfied”) describes the futility of human labor: “the ear is never satisfied with hearing.”

[6:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “already its name was called.”

[6:10]  ⁷ tn Or “and what a person (Heb “man”) is was foreknown.”

[6:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “he cannot contend with the one who is more powerful than him.” The referent of the “the one who is more powerful than he is” (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The words “with God about his fate” have been added for clarity as well.

[7:28]  ¹¹ tn The word “only” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:28]  ¹² tn The word “upright” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation twice, here and in the following line, for clarity.

[8:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ¹⁷ tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:13]  ¹⁸ tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.

[8:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they do not fear.”