Ecclesiastes 1:9
Context1:9 What exists now 1 is what will be, 2
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing truly new on earth. 3
Ecclesiastes 3:21
Context3:21 Who really knows if the human spirit 4 ascends upward,
and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
Ecclesiastes 9:15
Context9:15 However, a poor but wise man lived in the city, 5
and he could have delivered 6 the city by his wisdom,
but no one listened 7 to that poor man.


[1:9] 1 tn Heb “what is.” The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect. Another option is to translate, “What has been.” See the next line, which speaks of the past and the future.
[1:9] 2 tn The Hebrew verbal form is an imperfect.
[1:9] 3 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[3:21] 4 tn Heb “the spirit of the sons of man.”
[9:15] 7 tn Heb “was found in it”; the referent (the city) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:15] 8 tn Or “he delivered.” The verb וּמִלַּט (umillat, from מָלַט, malat, “to deliver”) is functioning either in an indicative sense (past definite action: “he delivered”) or in a modal sense (past potential: “he could have delivered”). The literal meaning of זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) in the following line harmonizes with the indicative: “but no one remembered that poor man [afterward].” However, the modal is supported by v. 16: “A poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens to his advice.” This approach must nuance זָכַר (“to remember”) as “[no one] listened to [that poor man].” Most translations favor the indicative approach: “he delivered” or “he saved” (KJV, RSV, NRSV, NAB, ASV, NASB, MLB, NIV); however, some adopt the modal nuance: “he might have saved” (NEB, NJPS, NASB margin).