Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 4:3
Context4:3 But better than both is the one who has not been born 1
and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. 2
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Context5:10 The one who loves money 3 will never be satisfied with money, 4
he who loves wealth 5 will never be satisfied 6 with his 7 income.
This also is futile.
Ecclesiastes 6:6
Context6:6 if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity.
For both of them die! 8
Ecclesiastes 7:28
Context7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;
I have found only 9 one upright 10 man among a thousand,
but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.
Ecclesiastes 8:13
Context8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,
[4:3] 1 tn The word “born” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[4:3] 2 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[5:10] 3 tn Heb “silver.” The Hebrew term כֶּסֶף (kesef, “silver”) refers to “money” (HALOT 490–91 s.v. כֶּסֶף 3). It is a synecdoche of specific (i.e., silver) for the general (i.e., money); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 625-29.
[5:10] 4 sn The Hebrew term “silver” (translated “money”) is repeated twice in this line for rhetorical emphasis.
[5:10] 5 tn The term הָמוֹן (hamon, “abundance; wealth”) has a wide range of meanings: (1) agitation; (2) turmoil; (3) noise; (4) pomp; (5) multitude; crowd = noisy crowd; and (6) abundance; wealth (HALOT 250 s.v. הָמוֹן 1–6). Here, it refers to abundant wealth (related to “pomp”); cf. HALOT 250 s.v. הָמוֹן 6, that is, lavish abundant wealth (Ezek 29:19; 30:4; 1 Chr 29:16).
[5:10] 6 tn The phrase “will never be satisfied” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Note the previous line.
[5:10] 7 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:6] 5 tn Heb “Do not all go to the same place?” The rhetorical question is an example of erotesis of positive affirmation, expecting a positive answer, e.g., Ps 56:13 [14] (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 947). It affirms the fact that both the miserly rich man who lives two thousand years, as well as the stillborn who never lived one day, both go to the same place – the grave. And if the miserly rich man never enjoyed the fruit of his labor during his life, his fate was no better than that of the stillborn who never had opportunity to enjoy any of the blessings of life. In a sense, it would have been better for the miserly rich man to have never lived than to have experienced the toil, anxiety, and misery of accumulating his wealth, but never enjoying any of the fruits of his labor.
[7:28] 7 tn The word “only” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[7:28] 8 tn The word “upright” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation twice, here and in the following line, for clarity.
[8:13] 10 tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[8:13] 11 tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.
