Ecclesiastes 6:10

The Futile Way Life Works

6:10 Whatever has happened was foreordained, ¹ 

and what happens to a person ²  was also foreknown.

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

because God is more powerful than he is. ³ 

Ecclesiastes 9:14

9:14 There was once ⁴  a small city with a few men in it,

and a mighty king attacked it, besieging ⁵  it and building strong ⁶  siege works against it.

[6:10]  ¹ tn Heb “already its name was called.”

[6:10]  ² tn Or “and what a person (Heb “man”) is was foreknown.”

[6:10]  ³ 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.

[9:14]  ⁴ tn The verbs in this section function either as past definite actions (describing a past situation) or as hypothetical past actions (describing an imaginary hypothetical situation for the sake of illustration). The LXX uses subjunctives throughout vv. 14-15 to depict the scenario as a hypothetical situation: “Suppose there was a little city, and a few men [lived] in it; and there should come against it a great king, and surround it, and build great siege-works against it; and should find in it a poor wise man, and he should save the city through his wisdom; yet no man would remember that poor man.”

[9:14]  ⁵ tn The two perfect tense verbs וְסָבַב (vÿsavav, “he besieged”) and וּבָנָה (uvanah, “he built”) may be taken in a complementary sense, qualifying the action of the main perfect tense verb וּבָא (uva’, “he attacked it”).

[9:14]  ⁶ tn The root גדל (“mighty; strong; large”) is repeated in 9:13b for emphasis: “a mighty (גָדוֹל, gadol) king…building strong (גְדֹלִים, gÿdolim) siege works.” This repetition highlights the contrast between the vast power and resources of the attacking king, and the meager resources of the “little” (קְטַנָּה, qÿtannah) city with “few” (מְעָט, mÿ’at) men in it to defend it.