Ecclesiastes 11:7

Life Should Be Enjoyed Because Death is Inevitable

11:7 Light ¹  is sweet, ² 

and it is pleasant for a person ³  to see the sun. ⁴ 

Psalms 119:105

נ (Nun)

119:105 Your word ⁵  is a lamp to walk by,

and a light to illumine my path. ⁶ 

Psalms 119:130

119:130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. ⁷ 

They give ⁸  insight to the untrained. ⁹ 

Proverbs 4:18-19

4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, ¹⁰ 

growing brighter and brighter ¹¹  until full day. ¹² 

4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; ¹³ 

they do not know what causes them to stumble. ¹⁴ 

Matthew 6:23

6:23 But if your eye is diseased, ¹⁵  your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Luke 11:34-35

11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, ¹⁶  your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, ¹⁷  your body is full of darkness. 11:35 Therefore see to it ¹⁸  that the light in you ¹⁹  is not darkness.

Ephesians 5:8

5:8 for you were at one time darkness, but now you are ²⁰  light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light –

[11:7]  ¹ tn The term “light” (הָאוֹר, ha’or) is used figuratively (metonymy of association) in reference to “life” (e.g., Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:14). By contrast, death is described as “darkness” (e.g., Eccl 11:8; 12:6-7).

[11:7]  ² tn The Hebrew term מָתוֹק (matoq, “sweet”) is often used elsewhere in reference to honey. The point is that life is sweet and should be savored like honey.

[11:7]  ³ tn Heb “to the eyes.” The term “eyes” is a synecdoche of part (i.e., eyes) for the whole person. Used with the idiom “to see the sun” (i.e., to be alive), Qoheleth is simply saying that the experience of a life is a pleasant thing that should be savored.

[11:7]  ⁴ tn The idiom “to see the sun” (both רָאָה הָשָּׁמֶשׁ, ra’ah hashamesh, and חָזָה הַשָּׁמֶשׁ, khazah hashamesh) is an idiom meaning “to be alive” (e.g., Ps 58:9; Eccl 6:5; 7:11; 11:7); cf. BDB 1039 s.v. שֶׁמֶשׁ 4.b. The opposite idiom, “the sun is darkened,” refers to the onset of old age and death (Eccl 12:2).

[119:105]  ⁵ tn Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural (“words”).

[119:105]  ⁶ tn Heb “[is] a lamp for my foot and a light for my path.”

[119:130]  ⁷ tn Heb “the doorway of your words gives light.” God’s “words” refer here to the instructions in his law (see vv. 9, 57).

[119:130]  ⁸ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doorway] gives.”

[119:130]  ⁹ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Pss 19:7; 116:6.

[4:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “like light of brightness.” This construction is an attributive genitive: “bright light.” The word “light” (אוֹר, ’or) refers to the early morning light or the dawn (BDB 21 s.v.). The point of the simile is that the course of life that the righteous follow is like the clear, bright morning light. It is illumined, clear, easy to follow, and healthy and safe – the opposite of what darkness represents.

[4:18]  ¹¹ tn The construction uses the Qal active participle of הָלַךְ (halakh) in a metaphorical sense to add the idea of continuance or continually to the participle הוֹלֵךְ (holekh). Here the path was growing light, but the added participle signifies continually.

[4:18]  ¹² tn Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.

[4:19]  ¹³ sn The simile describes ignorance or spiritual blindness, sinfulness, calamity, despair.

[4:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in what they stumble.”

[6:23]  ¹⁵ tn Or “if your eye is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[11:34]  ¹⁶ tn Or “sound” (so L&N 23.132 and most scholars). A few scholars take this word to mean something like “generous” here (L&N 57.107), partly due to the immediate context of this saying in Matt 6:22 which concerns money, in which case the “eye” is a metonymy for the entire person (“if you are generous”).

[11:34]  ¹⁷ tn Or “when it is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[11:35]  ¹⁸ tn This is a present imperative, calling for a constant watch (L&N 24.32; ExSyn 721).

[11:35]  ¹⁹ sn Here you is a singular pronoun, individualizing the application.

[5:8]  ²⁰ tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.