Ecclesiastes 2:1-2

Futility of Self-Indulgent Pleasure

I thought to myself, ¹ 

2:1 “Come now, ²  I will try ³  self-indulgent pleasure ⁴  to see ⁵  if it is worthwhile.” ⁶ 

But I found ⁷  that it also is futile. ⁸ 

2:2 I said of partying, ⁹  “It is folly,”

and of self-indulgent pleasure, ¹⁰  “It accomplishes nothing!” ¹¹ 

Ecclesiastes 7:2-6

7:2 It is better to go to a funeral ¹² 

than a feast. ¹³ 

For death ¹⁴  is the destiny ¹⁵  of every person, ¹⁶ 

and the living should ¹⁷  take this ¹⁸  to heart.

7:3 Sorrow ¹⁹  is better than laughter,

because sober reflection ²⁰  is good for the heart. ²¹ 

7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of merrymaking. ²² 

Frivolous Living Versus Wisdom

7:5 It is better for a person to receive ²³  a rebuke from those who are wise ²⁴ 

than to listen to the song ²⁵  of fools.

7:6 For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns ²⁶  under a cooking pot,

so is the laughter of the fool.

This kind of folly ²⁷  also is useless. ²⁸ 

Genesis 43:34

43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, ²⁹  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ³⁰ 

Daniel 5:1-12

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ³¹  prepared a great banquet ³²  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ³³  them all. ³⁴  5:2 While under the influence ³⁵  of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels – the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father ³⁶  had confiscated ³⁷  from the temple in Jerusalem ³⁸  – so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them. ³⁹  5:3 So they brought the gold and silver ⁴⁰  vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God ⁴¹  in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them. 5:4 As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5:5 At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared ⁴²  and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. ⁴³  The king was watching the back ⁴⁴  of the hand that was writing. 5:6 Then all the color drained from the king’s face ⁴⁵  and he became alarmed. ⁴⁶  The joints of his hips gave way, ⁴⁷  and his knees began knocking together. 5:7 The king called out loudly ⁴⁸  to summon ⁴⁹  the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed ⁵⁰  to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple ⁵¹  and have a golden collar ⁵²  placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.

5:8 So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its ⁵³  interpretation to the king. 5:9 Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. ⁵⁴  His nobles were completely dumbfounded.

5:10 Due to the noise ⁵⁵  caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother ⁵⁶  then entered the banquet room. She ⁵⁷  said, “O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken! 5:11 There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have ⁵⁸  insight, discernment, and wisdom like that ⁵⁹  of the gods. ⁶⁰  King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners. ⁶¹  5:12 Thus there was found in this man Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar, an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and skill to interpret ⁶²  dreams, solve riddles, and decipher knotty problems. ⁶³  Now summon ⁶⁴  Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”

Daniel 5:1

Belshazzar Sees Mysterious Handwriting on a Wall

5:1 King Belshazzar ⁶⁵  prepared a great banquet ⁶⁶  for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of ⁶⁷  them all. ⁶⁸ 

Daniel 4:3

4:3 “How great are his signs!

How mighty are his wonders!

His kingdom will last forever, ⁶⁹ 

and his authority continues from one generation to the next.”

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “I said, I, in my heart” (אָמַרְתִּי אֲנִי בְּלִבִּי, ’amarti ’ani bÿlibbi). The term “heart” (לֵב, lev) is a synecdoche of part (“heart”) for the whole (the whole person), and thus means “I said to myself” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648).

[2:1]  ² tn The Hebrew verb לְכָה (lÿkhah, “Come!”) is a weakened imperative, used merely as an introductory word, e.g., Gen 19:32; 31:44; Judg 19:11; 1 Sam 9:9-10; 11:14; 2 Kgs 3:7; Ps 66:5; Song 7:12; Isa 1:18; 2:3; Mic 4:2 (HALOT 246 s.v. הָלַךְ 2; BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ I.5.f.2). Whenever לְכָה introduces an exhortation, it functions as an invitation to the audience to adopt a course of action that will be beneficial to the addressee or mutually beneficial to both the speaker and the addressee. Here, Qoheleth personifies his “heart” (לִבִּי, libbi) and addresses himself. The examination of self-indulgent pleasure is designed to be beneficial to Qoheleth.

[2:1]  ³ tn Or “test.” The cohortative אֲנַסְּכָה (’anassÿkhah) emphasizes the resolve of the speaker. The term נָסַה (nasah, “to test”) means “to conduct a test,” that is, to conduct an experiment (Judg 6:39; Eccl 2:1; 7:23; Dan 1:12, 14; see HALOT 702 s.v. נסה 3; BDB 650 s.v. נָסָה 1). The verb נָסַה is often used as a synonym with בָּחַן (bakhan, “to examine”; BDB 103 s.v. בָּחַן and 650 s.v. נָסָה 1) and לָדַעַת (lada’at, “to ascertain”; Deut 8:2).

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will test you with pleasure.” The term שִׂמְחַה (simkhah, “pleasure”) has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) it can refer to the legitimate enjoyment of life that Qoheleth affirms is good (5:17; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8, 9) and that God gives to those who please him (2:26; 5:19); or (2) it can refer to foolish pleasure, self-indulgent, frivolous merrymaking (2:1, 2; 7:4). The parallelism in 2:2 between שִׂמְחַה and שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter, frivolous merrymaking”), which always appears in the context of banqueting, drinking, and merrymaking, suggests that the pejorative sense is in view in this context.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “See what is good!” The volitive sequence of the cohortative (אֲנַסְּכָה, ’anassÿkhah, “I will test you”) followed by vav + imperative (וּרְאֵה, urÿ’eh, “and see!”) denotes purpose/result: “I will test you…in order to see….” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) has a broad range of meanings (e.g., in the Qal stem 16 categories are listed in HALOT 1157–1160 s.v.). In this context it means “to discover; to perceive; to discern; to understand” (HALOT 1159 s.v. ראה 13; BDB 907 s.v. רָאָה 5).

[2:1]  ⁶ sn The phrase “to see what is good” (רָאָה, ra’ah, “to see” + טוֹב, tov, “good”) is repeated twice in 2:1-3. This is the key phrase in this section of Ecclesiastes. Qoheleth sought to discover (רָאָה) whether merry-making offered any value (טוֹב) to mankind.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn The particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, literally “Behold!”) occurs after verbs of perception to introduce what was seen, understood or discovered (HALOT 252 s.v. הִנֵּה 8). It is used to make the narrative graphic and vivid, enabling the reader to enter into the surprise of the speaker (BDB 244 s.v. הִנֵּה c). This is an example of the heterosis of the deictic particle (“Behold!”) for a verb of perception (“I found”). See E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 510-34.

[2:1]  ⁸ tn This use of הֶבֶל (hevel) denotes “futile, worthless, fruitless, pointless” (HALOT 237 s.v. I הֶבֶל 2; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הֶבֶל 2). It is a synonym to מְהוֹלָל (mÿholal, “folly”) in 2:2a and an antonym to טוֹב (tov, “worthwhile, beneficial”) in 2:1b and 2:3c.

[2:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “laughter.” The term שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter”) has a fourfold range of meanings: (1) “joyful laughter” (Ps 126:2; Prov 14:13; Job 8:21); (2) “frivolous laughter, merrymaking” (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6); (3) “pleasure, sport” (Prov 10:23; Eccl 10:19); and (4) “derision, mockery, laughingstock” (Jer 20:7; 48:26, 27, 39; Job 12:4; Lam 3:14). See HALOT 1315 s.v שְׂחוֹק; BDB 966 s.v. שְׂחֹק. In Ecclesiastes, שְׂחוֹק is always used in contexts of self-indulgent banqueting, drinking, frivolous partying and merrymaking (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6; 10:19). It is distinct from “healthy” joy and laughter (Ps 126:2; Job 8:21). The connotation of “frivolous merrymaking” fits this context best.

[2:2]  ¹⁰ tn The term שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “pleasure”) has a two-fold range of meanings in Ecclesiastes: (1) it can refer to the enjoyment of life that Qoheleth affirms is good (5:17; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8, 9) and that God gives to those who are pleasing to him (2:26; 5:19); and (2) it can refer to foolish pleasure, that is, frivolous merrymaking (2:1, 2; 7:4). The parallelism between שִׂמְחָה and שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter, frivolous merrymaking”) in 2:2 suggests that the pejorative sense is in view here.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “What does it accomplish?” The rhetorical question “What does it accomplish?” expects a negative answer: “It accomplishes nothing!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949–51). See, e.g., Gen 1:19; 18:14, 17; Deut 7:17; 1 Sam 2:25; Job 40:2; Pss 56:7[8]; 90:11; 94:16; 106:2; Eccl 3:21.

[7:2]  ¹² tn Heb “house of mourning.” The phrase refers to a funeral where the deceased is mourned.

[7:2]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “it”; the referent (“death”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:2]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all men” or “every man.”

[7:2]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:3]  ¹⁹ tn NEB suggests “grief”; NJPS, “vexation.”

[7:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in sadness of face there is good for the heart.”

[7:3]  ²¹ tn Or possibly “Though the face is sad, the heart may be glad.”

[7:4]  ²² sn The expression the house of merrymaking refers to a banquet where those who attend engage in self-indulgent feasting and riotous drinking.

[7:5]  ²³ tn Heb “hear.”

[7:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “rebuke of the wise,” a subjective genitive (“the wise” administer the rebuke).

[7:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “praise.” The antithetical parallelism between “rebuke” (גַּעֲרַת, ga’arat) and “song” (שִׁיר, shir) suggests that the latter is figurative (metonymy of association) for praise/flattery which is “music” to the ears: “praise of fools” (NEB, NJPS) and “flattery of fools” (Douay). However, the collocation of “song” (שִׁיר) in 7:5 with “laughter” (שְׂחֹק, sÿkhoq) in 7:6 suggests simply frivolous merrymaking: “song of fools” (KJV, NASB, NIV, ASV, RSV, NRSV).

[7:6]  ²⁶ tn The term “thorns” (הַסִּירִים, hassirim) refers to twigs from wild thorn bushes which were used as fuel for quick heat, but burn out quickly before a cooking pot can be properly heated (e.g., Pss 58:9; 118:12).

[7:6]  ²⁷ tn The word “kind of folly” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:6]  ²⁸ tn It is difficult to determine whether the Hebrew term הֶבֶל (hevel) means “fleeting” or “useless” in this context. The imagery of quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot is ambiguous and can be understood in more than one way: (1) It is useless to try to heat a cooking pot by burning thorns because they burn out before the pot can be properly heated; (2) the heat produced by quick-burning thorns is fleeting – it produces quick heat, but lasts only for a moment. Likewise, the “laughter of a fool” can be taken in both ways: (1) In comparison to the sober reflection of the wise, the laughter of fools is morally useless: the burning of thorns, like the laughter of fools, makes a lot of noise but accomplishes nothing; (2) the laughter of fools is fleeting due to the brevity of life and certainty of death. Perhaps this is an example of intentional ambiguity.

[43:34]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and he lifted up portions from before his face to them.”

[43:34]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and they drank and were intoxicated with him” (cf. NIV “drank freely with him”; NEB “grew merry”; NRSV “were merry”). The brothers were apparently relaxed and set at ease, despite Joseph’s obvious favoritism toward Benjamin.

[5:1]  ³¹ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

[5:1]  ³² sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

[5:1]  ³³ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

[5:1]  ³⁴ tn Aram “the thousand.”

[5:2]  ³⁵ tn Or perhaps, “when he had tasted” (cf. NASB) in the sense of officially initiating the commencement of the banquet. The translation above seems preferable, however, given the clear evidence of inebriation in the context (cf. also CEV “he got drunk and ordered”).

[5:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “ancestor”; or “predecessor” (also in vv. 11, 13, 18). The Aramaic word translated “father” can on occasion denote these other relationships.

[5:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “taken.”

[5:2]  ³⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:2]  ³⁹ sn Making use of sacred temple vessels for an occasion of reveling and drunkenness such as this would have been a religious affront of shocking proportions to the Jewish captives.

[5:3]  ⁴⁰ tc The present translation reads וְכַסְפָּא (vÿkhaspa’, “and the silver”) with Theodotion and the Vulgate. Cf. v. 2. The form was probably accidentally dropped from the Aramaic text by homoioteleuton.

[5:3]  ⁴¹ tn Aram “the temple of the house of God.” The phrase seems rather awkward. The Vulgate lacks “of the house of God,” while Theodotion and the Syriac lack “the house.”

[5:5]  ⁴² tn Aram “came forth.”

[5:5]  ⁴³ sn The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.

[5:5]  ⁴⁴ tn While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.

[5:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”

[5:6]  ⁴⁶ tn Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”

[5:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Aram “his loins went slack.”

[5:7]  ⁴⁸ tn Aram “in strength.”

[5:7]  ⁴⁹ tn Aram “cause to enter.”

[5:7]  ⁵⁰ tn Aram “answered and said.”

[5:7]  ⁵¹ sn Purple was a color associated with royalty in the ancient world.

[5:7]  ⁵² tn The term translated “golden collar” here probably refers to something more substantial than merely a gold chain (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT) or necklace (cf. NASB).

[5:8]  ⁵³ tc Read וּפִשְׁרֵהּ (ufishreh) with the Qere rather than וּפִשְׁרָא (ufishra’) of the Kethib.

[5:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Aram “his visage altered upon him.” So also in v. 10.

[5:10]  ⁵⁵ tn Aram “words of the king.”

[5:10]  ⁵⁶ tn Aram “the queen” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). In the following discourse this woman is able to recall things about Daniel that go back to the days of Nebuchadnezzar, things that Belshazzar does not seem to recollect. It is likely that she was the wife not of Belshazzar but of Nabonidus or perhaps even Nebuchadnezzar. In that case, “queen” here means “queen mother” (cf. NCV “the king’s mother”).

[5:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Aram “The queen.” The translation has used the pronoun “she” instead because repetition of the noun here would be redundant in terms of English style.

[5:11]  ⁵⁸ tn Aram “[there were] discovered to be in him.”

[5:11]  ⁵⁹ tn Aram “wisdom like the wisdom.” This would be redundant in terms of English style.

[5:11]  ⁶⁰ tc Theodotion lacks the phrase “and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods.”

[5:11]  ⁶¹ tc The MT includes a redundant reference to “your father the king” at the end of v. 11. None of the attempts to explain this phrase as original are very convincing. The present translation deletes the phrase, following Theodotion and the Syriac.

[5:12]  ⁶² tc The translation reads מִפְשַׁר (mifshar) rather than the MT מְפַשַּׁר (mÿfashar) and later in the verse reads וּמִשְׁרֵא (mishre’) rather than the MT וּמְשָׁרֵא (mÿshare’). The Masoretes have understood these Aramaic forms to be participles, but they are more likely to be vocalized as infinitives. As such, they have an epexegetical function in the syntax of their clause.

[5:12]  ⁶³ tn Aram “to loose knots.”

[5:12]  ⁶⁴ tn Aram “let [Daniel] be summoned.”

[5:1]  ⁶⁵ sn As is clear from the extra-biblical records, it was actually Nabonidus (ca. 556-539 B.C.) who was king of Babylon at this time. However, Nabonidus spent long periods of time at Teima, and during those times Belshazzar his son was de facto king of Babylon. This arrangement may help to explain why later in this chapter Belshazzar promises that the successful interpreter of the handwriting on the wall will be made third ruler in the kingdom. If Belshazzar was in effect second ruler in the kingdom, this would be the highest honor he could grant.

[5:1]  ⁶⁶ sn This scene of a Babylonian banquet calls to mind a similar grandiose event recorded in Esth 1:3-8. Persian kings were also renowned in the ancient Near Eastern world for their lavish banquets.

[5:1]  ⁶⁷ sn The king probably sat at an elevated head table.

[5:1]  ⁶⁸ tn Aram “the thousand.”

[4:3]  ⁶⁹ tn Aram “his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.”