Ecclesiastes 5:5

5:5 It is better for you not to vow

than to vow and not pay it. ¹ 

Ecclesiastes 6:5

6:5 though it never saw the light of day ²  nor knew anything, ³ 

yet it has more rest ⁴  than that man –

Ecclesiastes 7:20

7:20 For ⁵  there is not one truly ⁶  righteous person on the earth

who continually does good and never sins.

Ecclesiastes 10:17

10:17 Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility, ⁷ 

and your princes feast at the proper time ⁸  – with self-control and not in drunkenness. ⁹ 

Ecclesiastes 1:8

1:8 All this ¹⁰  monotony ¹¹  is tiresome; no one can bear ¹²  to describe it: ¹³ 

The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content ¹⁴  with hearing.

Ecclesiastes 6:10

The Futile Way Life Works

6:10 Whatever has happened was foreordained, ¹⁵ 

and what happens to a person ¹⁶  was also foreknown.

It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate

because God is more powerful than he is. ¹⁷ 

Ecclesiastes 7:28

7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;

I have found only ¹⁸  one upright ¹⁹  man among a thousand,

but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

Ecclesiastes 8:13

8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,

nor will they ²⁰  prolong their ²¹  days like a shadow, ²² 

because they ²³  do not stand in fear ²⁴  before God.

Ecclesiastes 6:2

6:2 God gives a man riches, property, and wealth

so that he lacks nothing that his heart ²⁵  desires, ²⁶ 

yet God does not enable ²⁷  him to enjoy ²⁸  the fruit of his labor ²⁹  –

instead, someone else ³⁰  enjoys ³¹  it! ³² 

This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. ³³ 

Ecclesiastes 8:8

8:8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, ³⁴ 

so no one has power over the day of his ³⁵  death.

Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, ³⁶ 

so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. ³⁷ 

Ecclesiastes 9:11

Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events

9:11 Again, ³⁸  I observed this on the earth: ³⁹ 

the race is not always ⁴⁰  won by the swiftest,

the battle is not always won by the strongest;

prosperity ⁴¹  does not always belong to those who are the wisest,

wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,

nor does success ⁴²  always come to those with the most knowledge –

for time and chance may overcome ⁴³  them all.

Ecclesiastes 8:17

8:17 then I discerned all that God has done: ⁴⁴ 

No one really comprehends what happens ⁴⁵  on earth. ⁴⁶ 

Despite all human ⁴⁷  efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp ⁴⁸  it. ⁴⁹ 

Even if ⁵⁰  a wise person claimed ⁵¹  that he understood,

he would not really comprehend ⁵²  it. ⁵³ 

[5:5]  ¹ tn The word “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:5]  ² tn Heb “it never saw the sun.”

[6:5]  ³ tn The word “anything” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:5]  ⁴ sn The Hebrew term translated rest here refers to freedom from toil, anxiety, and misery – part of the miserable misfortune that the miserly man of wealth must endure.

[7:20]  ³ tn The introductory particle כִּי (ki) is rendered variously: “for” (KJV); “indeed” (NASB); not translated (NIV); “for” (NJPS). The particle functions in an explanatory sense, explaining the need for wisdom in v. 19. Righteousness alone cannot always protect a person from calamity (7:15-16); therefore, something additional, such as wisdom, is needed. The need for wisdom as protection from calamity is particularly evident in the light of the fact that no one is truly righteous (7:19-20).

[7:20]  ⁴ tn The term “truly” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Qoheleth does not deny the existence of some people who are relatively righteous.

[10:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “son of nobles”; or “son of freemen.” The term חוֹרִים (khorim) is from חֹר (khor, “noble one; freeman”); cf. HALOT 348 s.v. I חֹר; BDB 359 s.v. I חֹר. It is related to the Aramaic noun חֲרַר (kharar, “freeman”); Sabean חר (“freeman; noble”); Old South Arabic חר and Arabic hurr (“freedom”); cf. HALOT 348 s.v. חֹר; BDB 359 s.v. חֹר.

[10:17]  ⁵ tn The noun עֵת (’et, “point in time”) has a basic two-fold range of meanings: (1) “time of an event” and (2) “time for an event” (BDB 773 s.v. עֵת). The latter has four sub-categories: (a) “usual time,” (b) “the proper, suitable or appropriate time,” (c) “the appointed time,” and (d) “uncertain time.” Here it connotes “a proper, suitable time for an event” (HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6; BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.b). Examples of this use include: “it was the time for rain” (Ezra 10:13); “a time of judgment for the nations” (Ezek 30:3); “there is an appropriate time for every occasion” (Eccl 3:1); “the rain in its season” (Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24); “the time for the harvest” (Hos 2:11; Ps 1:3); “food in its season” (Ps 104:27); “the right moment” (Eccl 8:5); cf. HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6.

[10:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “for strength and not for drunkenness”; or “as heroes and not as drunkards”; or “for nourishment and not for drunkenness.” According to HALOT 172 s.v. גְבוּרה 1.d the term גְבוּרָה (gÿvurah, “strength”) may here connote “self-control.” This tactic is adopted by a few English versions: “with self-control, and not as drunkards” (NEB) and “with restraint, not with guzzling” (NJPS). On the other hand, most English versions render בִּגְבוּרָה וְלֹא בַשְּׁתִי (bigvurah vÿlo’ vashÿti) in a woodenly literal sense, “for strength and not for drunkenness” (YLT, KJV, ASV, NASB, RSV, NRSV, NIV). However, a few attempt to express the idiom clearly: “as stalwarts and not as drunkards” (MLB); “stalwart men, not sots” (Moffatt); “for vigor and not in drinking bouts” (NAB); “for refreshment, and not for riotousness” (Douay).

[1:8]  ⁵ tn The word “this” is not in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “the things.” The Hebrew term דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, masculine plural noun from דָּבָר, davar) is often used to denote “words,” but it can also refer to actions and events (HALOT 211 s.v. דָּבָר 3.a; BDB 183 s.v. דָּבָר IV.4). Here, it means “things,” as is clear from the context: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (1:9). Here דְּבָרִים can be nuanced “occurrences” or even “[natural] phenomena.”

[1:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “is able.”

[1:8]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text has no stated object. The translation supplies “it” for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[1:8]  ⁹ tn The term מָלֵא (male’, “to be filled, to be satisfied”) is repeated in 1:7-8 to draw a comparison between the futility in the cycle of nature and human secular accomplishments: lots of action, but no lasting effects. In 1:7 אֵינֶנּוּ מָלֵא (’enennu male’, “it is never filled”) describes the futility of the water cycle: “All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never filled.” In 1:8 וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵא (vÿlo-timmale’, “it is never satisfied”) describes the futility of human labor: “the ear is never satisfied with hearing.”

[6:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “already its name was called.”

[6:10]  ⁷ tn Or “and what a person (Heb “man”) is was foreknown.”

[6:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “he cannot contend with the one who is more powerful than him.” The referent of the “the one who is more powerful than he is” (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The words “with God about his fate” have been added for clarity as well.

[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]  ⁸ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ⁹ tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:13]  ¹⁰ 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.

[8:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ¹² tn Heb “they do not fear.”

[6:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “his appetite.”

[6:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “There is no lack in respect to his appetite”; or “his desire lacks nothing.”

[6:2]  ¹¹ tn The verb שָׁלַט (shalat) in the Qal stem means “to domineer; to dominate; to lord it over; to be master of” and in the Hiphil stem “to give power to” (BDB 1020 s.v. שָׁלַט) and “to grant” (HALOT 1522 s.v. שׁלט). God must grant a person the ability to enjoy the fruit of his labor, otherwise a person will not be able to enjoy his possessions and wealth. The ability to partake of the fruit of one’s labor and to find satisfaction and joy in it is a gift from God (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:13; 5:18 [19]; 9:7).

[6:2]  ¹² tn Heb “to eat of it.” The verb אָכַל (’akhal, “to eat”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, the action of eating is associated with the enjoyment of the fruit of one’s labor (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22; 5:17-19; 8:15; 9:9).

[6:2]  ¹³ tn The phrase “the fruit of his labor” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a stranger.” The Hebrew expression אִיש נָכְרִי (’ish nokhri, “stranger”) sometimes refers not to a foreigner or someone that the person does not know, but simply to someone else other than the subject (e.g., Prov 27:2). In the light of 6:3-6, it might even refer to the man’s own heirs. The term is used as a synecdoche of species (foreigner for stranger) in the sense of someone else other than the subject: “someone else” (BDB 649 s.v. נָכְרִי 3).

[6:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “eats.”

[6:2]  ¹⁶ sn Instead, someone else enjoys it. A person may be unable to enjoy the fruit of his/her labor due to an unfortunate turn of events that robs a person of his possessions (5:13-14) or a miserly, lifelong hoarding of one’s wealth that robs him of the ability to enjoy what he has worked so hard to acquire (5:15-17). Qoheleth recommends the enjoyment of life and the fruit of one’s labor, as God enables (5:18-20). Unfortunately, the ability to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor is often thwarted by the obstacles described in 6:1-2 and 6:3-9.

[6:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “an evil sickness.”

[8:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “There is not a man who has mastery over the wind to restrain the wind.”

[8:8]  ¹¹ tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:8]  ¹² tn Heb “There is no discharge in war.”

[8:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “its owners.”

[9:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”

[9:11]  ¹² tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:11]  ¹³ tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.

[9:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “bread.”

[9:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “favor.”

[9:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “happen to.”

[8:17]  ¹² tn Heb “all the work of God.”

[8:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “the work that is done.”

[8:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[8:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.

[8:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “find.”

[8:17]  ¹⁷ tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:17]  ¹⁸ tn The particle אִם (’im, “even if”) introduces the protasis in a real conditional clause (“If a wise man …”); see IBHS 636-37 §38.2d; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 74, §453.

[8:17]  ¹⁹ tn The imperfect tense verb יֹאמַר (yo’mar, “to say”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility (see IBHS 508 §31.4e; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31, §169).

[8:17]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”

[8:17]  ²¹ tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is an implied direct object and has been supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.