Ecclesiastes 6:4

6:4 Though the stillborn child ¹  came into the world ²  for no reason ³  and departed into darkness,

though its name is shrouded in darkness, ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 8:7

8:7 Surely no one knows the future, ⁵ 

and no one can tell another person what will happen. ⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 10:5

10:5 I have seen another ⁷  misfortune ⁸  on the earth: ⁹ 

It is an error a ruler makes. ¹⁰ 

Ecclesiastes 10:8

Wisdom is Needed to Avert Dangers in Everyday Life

10:8 One who digs a pit may ¹¹  fall into it,

and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. ¹² 

Ecclesiastes 10:14

10:14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ¹³ 

No one knows what will happen;

who can tell him what will happen in the future? ¹⁴ 

[6:4]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (“the stillborn child”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:4]  ² tn The phrase “into the world” does not appear in Hebrew, but is added in the translation for clarity.

[6:4]  ³ sn The birth of the stillborn was in vain – it did it no good to be born.

[6:4]  ⁴ sn The name of the stillborn is forgotten.

[8:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “what will be.”

[8:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who can tell him what will be?”

[10:5]  ⁹ tn The term “another” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that this is not the first “misfortune” described by the Teacher. See 5:13, 16; 6:1-2.

[10:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “an evil.”

[10:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[10:5]  ¹² tn Heb “like an error that comes forth from the presence of a ruler.”

[10:8]  ¹³ tn The four imperfect verbs in vv. 8-9 may be nuanced as indicatives (“will…”) or in a modal sense denoting possibility (“may…”). The LXX rendered them with indicatives, as do many English translations (KJV, RSV, NRSV, ASV, MLB, YLT, NJPS). However, it is better to take them in a modal sense (NEB, NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, CEV, NLT). One who digs a pit does not necessarily fall into it, but he may under the right conditions.

[10:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a serpent will bite him.” The clause “he who breaks through a wall” (וּפֹרֵץ גָּדֵר, uforets gader) is a nominative absolute – the casus pendens is picked up by the resumptive pronoun in the following clause “a serpent will bite him” (יִשְּׁכֶנּוּ נָחָשׁ, yishÿkhennu nakhash). This construction is used for rhetorical emphasis (see IBHS 76-77 §4.7c).

[10:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the fool multiplies words.” This line is best taken as the third line of a tricola encompassing 10:13-14a (NASB, NRSV, NJPS, Moffatt) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, NAB, ASV, NIV). Several versions capture the sense of this line well: “a fool prates on and on” (Moffatt) and “Yet the fool talks and talks!” (NJPS).

[10:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”