Ecclesiastes 3:21

3:21 Who really knows if the human spirit ¹  ascends upward,

and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

Ecclesiastes 3:2

3:2 A time to be born, ²  and a time to die; ³ 

a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;

Ecclesiastes 1:14

1:14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man ⁴  on earth, ⁵ 

and I concluded: Everything ⁶  he has accomplished ⁷  is futile ⁸  – like chasing the wind! ⁹ 

Job 14:5

14:5 Since man’s days ¹⁰  are determined, ¹¹ 

the number of his months is under your control; ¹² 

you have set his limit ¹³  and he cannot pass it.

Job 34:14

34:14 If God ¹⁴  were to set his heart on it, ¹⁵ 

and gather in his spirit and his breath,

Psalms 49:6-9

49:6 They trust ¹⁶  in their wealth

and boast ¹⁷  in their great riches.

49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; ¹⁸ 

he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price ¹⁹ 

49:8 (the ransom price for a human life ²⁰  is too high,

and people go to their final destiny), ²¹ 

49:9 so that he might continue to live ²²  forever

and not experience death. ²³ 

Psalms 89:48

89:48 No man can live on without experiencing death,

or deliver his life from the power of Sheol. ²⁴  (Selah)

Hebrews 9:27

9:27 And just as people ²⁵  are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, ²⁶ 

[3:21]  ¹ tn Heb “the spirit of the sons of man.”

[3:2]  ² tn The verb יָלָד (yalad, “to bear”) is used in the active sense of a mother giving birth to a child (HALOT 413 s.v. ילד; BDB 408 s.v. יָלָד). However, in light of its parallelism with “a time to die,” it should be taken as a metonymy of cause (i.e., to give birth to a child) for effect (i.e., to be born).

[3:2]  ³ sn In 3:2-8, Qoheleth uses fourteen sets of merisms (a figure using polar opposites to encompass everything in between, that is, totality), e.g., Deut 6:6-9; Ps 139:2-3 (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 435).

[1:14]  ⁴ tn The phrase “by man” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[1:14]  ⁶ tn As mentioned in the note on “everything” in 1:2, the term הַכֹּל (hakkol, “everything”) is often limited in reference to the specific topic at hand in the context (e.g., BDB 482 s.v. כֹּל 2). The argument of 1:12-15, like 1:3-11, focuses on secular human achievement. This is clear from the repetition of the root עָשַׂה (’asah, “do, work, accomplish, achieve”) in 1:12-13.

[1:14]  ⁷ tn The phrase “he has accomplished” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ⁸ tn This usage of הֶבֶל (hevel) denotes “futile, profitless, fruitless” (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:15; Ps 78:33; Prov 13:11; 21:6; Eccl 1:2, 14; 2:1, 14-15; 4:8; Jer 2:5; 10:3; Lam 4:17; see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הֶבֶל). The term is used with the simile “like striving after the wind” (רְעוּת רוּחַ, rÿ’ut ruakh) – a graphic picture of an expenditure of effort in vain because no one can catch the wind by chasing it (e.g., 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9; 7:14). When used in this sense, the term is often used with the following synonyms: לְתֹהוּ (lÿtohu, “for nothing, in vain, for no reason”; Isa 49:4); רִיק (riq, “profitless; useless”; Isa 30:7; Eccl 6:11); לֹא הוֹעִיל (“worthless, profitless”; Is 30:6; 57:12; Jer 16:19); “what profit?” (מַה־יִּתְרוֹןֹ, mah-yyitron); and “no profit” (אֵין יִּתְרוֹן, en yyitron; e.g., 2:11; 3:19; 6:9). It is also used in antithesis to terms connoting value: טוֹב (tov, “good, benefit, advantage”) and יֹתְרוֹן (yotÿron, “profit, advantage, gain”). Despite everything that man has accomplished in history, it is ultimately futile because nothing on earth really changes.

[1:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “striving of wind.” The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it has been added in the translation to make the comparative notion clear.

[14:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his days.”

[14:5]  ¹¹ tn The passive participle is from חָרַץ (kharats), which means “determined.” The word literally means “cut” (Lev 22:22, “mutilated”). E. Dhorme, (Job, 197) takes it to mean “engraved” as on stone; from a custom of inscribing decrees on tablets of stone he derives the meaning here of “decreed.” This, he argues, is parallel to the way חָקַק (khaqaq, “engrave”) is used. The word חֹק (khoq) is an “ordinance” or “statute”; the idea is connected to the verb “to engrave.” The LXX has “if his life should be but one day on the earth, and his months are numbered by him, you have appointed him for a time and he shall by no means exceed it.”

[14:5]  ¹² tn Heb “[is] with you.” This clearly means under God’s control.

[14:5]  ¹³ tn The word חֹק (khoq) has the meanings of “decree, decision, and limit” (cf. Job 28:26; 38:10).

[34:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:14]  ¹⁵ tc This is the reading following the Qere. The Kethib and the Syriac and the LXX suggest a reading יָשִׂים (yasim, “if he [God] recalls”). But this would require leaving out “his heart,” and would also require redividing the verse to make “his spirit” the object. It makes better parallelism, but may require too many changes.

[49:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ones who trust.” The substantival participle stands in apposition to “those who deceive me” (v. 5).

[49:6]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbal form emphasizes their characteristic behavior.

[49:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a brother, he surely does not ransom, a man.” The sequence אִישׁ...אָח (’akh...’ish, “a brother…a man”) is problematic, for the usual combination is אָח...אָח (“a brother…a brother”) or אִישׁ...אִישׁ (“a man…a man”). When אִישׁ and אָח are combined, the usual order is אָח...אִישׁ (“a man…a brother”), with “brother” having a third masculine singular suffix, “his brother.” This suggests that “brother” is the object of the verb and “man” the subject. (1) Perhaps the altered word order and absence of the suffix can be explained by the text’s poetic character, for ellipsis is a feature of Hebrew poetic style. (2) Another option, supported by a few medieval Hebrew mss, is to emend “brother” to the similar sounding אַךְ (’akh, “surely; but”) which occurs in v. 15 before the verb פָּדָה (padah, “ransom”). If this reading is accepted the Qal imperfect יִפְדֶּה (yifddeh, “he can [not] ransom”) would need to be emended to a Niphal (passive) form, יִפָּדֶה (yifadeh, “he can[not] be ransomed”) unless one understands the subject of the Qal verb to be indefinite (“one cannot redeem a man”). (A Niphal imperfect can be collocated with a Qal infinitive absolute. See GKC 344-45 §113.w.) No matter how one decides the textual issues, the imperfect in this case is modal, indicating potential, and the infinitive absolute emphasizes the statement.

[49:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he cannot pay to God his ransom price.” Num 35:31 may supply the legal background for the metaphorical language used here. The psalmist pictures God as having a claim on the soul of the individual. When God comes to claim the life that ultimately belongs to him, he demands a ransom price that is beyond the capability of anyone to pay. The psalmist’s point is that God has ultimate authority over life and death; all the money in the world cannot buy anyone a single day of life beyond what God has decreed.

[49:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “their life.” Some emend the text to “his life,” understanding the antecedent of the pronoun as “brother” in v. 7. However, the man and brother of v. 7 are representative of the human race in general, perhaps explaining why a plural pronoun appears in v. 8. Of course, the plural pronoun could refer back to “the rich” mentioned in v. 6. Another option (the one assumed in the translation) is that the suffixed mem is enclitic. In this case the “ransom price for human life” is referred to an abstract, general way.

[49:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “and one ceases forever.” The translation assumes an indefinite subject which in turn is representative of the entire human race (“one,” that refers to human beings without exception). The verb חָדַל (khadal, “cease”) is understood in the sense of “come to an end; fail” (i.e., die). Another option is to translate, “and one ceases/refrains forever.” In this case the idea is that the living, convinced of the reality of human mortality, give up all hope of “buying off” God and refrain from trying to do so.

[49:9]  ²² tn The jussive verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive is taken as indicating purpose/result in relation to the statement made in v. 8. (On this use of the jussive after an imperfect, see GKC 322 §109.f.) In this case v. 8 is understood as a parenthetical comment.

[49:9]  ²³ tn Heb “see the Pit.” The Hebrew term שַׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 16:10; 30:9; 55:24; 103:4).

[89:48]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Who [is] the man [who] can live and not see death, [who] can deliver his life from the hand of Sheol?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[9:27]  ²⁵ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[9:27]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and after this – judgment.”