Ecclesiastes 2:9-10

2:9 So ¹  I was far wealthier ²  than all my predecessors in Jerusalem,

yet I maintained my objectivity: ³ 

2:10 I did not restrain myself from getting whatever I wanted; ⁴ 

I did not deny myself anything that would bring me pleasure. ⁵ 

So all my accomplishments gave me joy; ⁶ 

this was my reward for all my effort. ⁷ 

[2:9]  ¹ tn The vav prefixed to וְגָדַלְתִּי (vÿgadalti, vav + Qal perfect first common singular from גָּדַל, gadal, “to be great; to increase”) functions in a final summarizing sense, that is, it introduces the concluding summary of 2:4-9.

[2:9]  ² tn Heb “I became great and I surpassed” (וְהוֹסַפְתִּי וְגָדַלְתִּי, vÿgadalti vÿhosafti). This is a verbal hendiadys in which the second verb functions adverbially, modifying the first: “I became far greater.” Most translations miss the hendiadys and render the line in a woodenly literal sense (KJV, ASV, RSV, NEB, NRSV, NAB, NASB, MLB, Moffatt), while only a few recognize the presence of hendiadys here: “I became greater by far” (NIV) and “I gained more” (NJPS).

[2:9]  ³ tn Heb “yet my wisdom stood for me,” meaning he retained his wise perspective despite his great wealth.

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “all which my eyes asked for, I did not withhold from them.”

[2:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “I did not refuse my heart any pleasure.” The term לִבִּי (libbi, “my heart”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., heart) for the whole (i.e., whole person); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648. The term is repeated twice in 2:10 for emphasis.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “So my heart was joyful from all my toil.”

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “and this was my portion from all my toil.”