Ecclesiastes 2:17

2:17 So I loathed ¹  life ²  because what

happens ³  on earth ⁴  seems awful to me;

for all the benefits of wisdom ⁵  are futile – like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:15

4:15 I considered all the living who walk on earth, ⁶ 

as well as the successor ⁷  who would arise ⁸  in his place.

Ecclesiastes 9:4-5

Better to Be Poor but Alive than Rich but Dead

9:4 But whoever is among ⁹  the living ¹⁰  has hope;

a live dog is better than a dead lion.

9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything;

they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears. ¹¹ 

[2:17]  ¹ tn Or “I hated.”

[2:17]  ² tn The term הַחַיִּים (hakhayyim, “life”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, that which is associated with life, that is, the profitlessness and futility of human secular achievement.

[2:17]  ³ tn Heb “the deed that is done.” The root עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) is repeated in הַמַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה (hamma’aseh shenna’asah, “the deed that is done”) for emphasis. Here, the term “deed” does not refer to human accomplishment, as in 2:1-11, but to the fact of death that destroys any relative advantage of wisdom over folly (2:14a-16). Qoheleth metaphorically describes death as a “deed” that is “done” to man.

[2:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[2:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “all,” referring here to the relative advantage of wisdom.

[4:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[4:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “the second youth.” It is not clear whether “the second” (הַשֵּׁנִי, hasheni) refers to the young man who succeeds the old king or a second youthful successor.

[4:15]  ⁸ tn The verb עָמַד (’amad, “to stand”) may denote “to arise; to appear; to come on the scene” (e.g., Ps 106:30; Dan 8:22, 23; 11:2-4; 12:1; Ezra 2:63; Neh 7:65); cf. BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד 6.a; HALOT 840 s.v. עמד 1.a.

[9:4]  ¹¹ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “is chosen, selected.” The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), “is joined.” See BDB 288 s.v. חָבַר Pu.

[9:4]  ¹² tn Heb “all the living.”

[9:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for their memory is forgotten.” The pronominal suffix is an objective genitive, “memory of them.”