Ecclesiastes 7:28

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

I have found only ¹  one upright ²  man among a thousand,

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

Ecclesiastes 7:26

7:26 I discovered this: ³ 

More bitter than death is the kind of ⁴  woman ⁵  who is like a hunter’s snare; ⁶ 

her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.

The man who pleases God escapes her,

but the sinner is captured by her.

Ecclesiastes 9:9

9:9 Enjoy ⁷  life with your beloved wife ⁸  during all the days of your fleeting ⁹  life

that God ¹⁰  has given you on earth ¹¹  during all your fleeting days; ¹² 

for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work ¹³  on earth. ¹⁴ 

[7:28]  ¹ tn The word “only” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:28]  ² 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.

[7:26]  ³ tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:26]  ⁴ tn The phrase “kind of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “woman”).

[7:26]  ⁵ tn The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah) functions in a particularizing sense (“the kind of woman”) rather than in a generic sense (i.e., “women”).

[7:26]  ⁶ tn Heb “is snares.” The plural form מְצוֹדִים (mÿtsodim, from the noun I מָצוֹד, matsod, “snare”) is used to connote either intensity, repeated or habitual action, or moral characteristic. For the function of the Hebrew plural, see IBHS 120-21 §7.4.2. The term II מָצוֹד “snare” is used in a concrete sense in reference to the hunter’s snare or net, but in a figurative sense of being ensnared by someone (Job 19:6; Prov 12:12; Eccl 7:26).

[9:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “see.”

[9:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the wife whom you love.”

[9:9]  ⁷ tn As discussed in the note on the word “futile” in 1:2, the term הֶבֶל (hevel) has a wide range of meanings, and should not be translated the same in every place (see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הבֶל). The term is used in two basic ways in OT, literally and figuratively. The literal, concrete sense is used in reference to the wind, man’s transitory breath, evanescent vapor (Isa 57:13; Pss 62:10; 144:4; Prov 21:6; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is often a synonym for “breath; wind” (Eccl 1:14; Isa 57:13; Jer 10:14). The literal sense lent itself to the metaphorical sense. Because breath/vapor/wind is transitory and fleeting, the figurative connotation “fleeting; transitory” arose (e.g., Prov 31:30; Eccl 6:12; 7:15; 9:9; 11:10; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is parallel to “few days” and “[days] which he passes like a shadow” (Eccl 6:12). It is used in reference to youth and vigor (11:10) or life (6:12; 7:15; 9:9) which are “transitory” or “fleeting.” In this context, the most appropriate meaning is “fleeting.”

[9:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “under the sun”

[9:9]  ¹⁰ tc The phrase כָּל יְמֵי הֶבְלֶךָ (kol yÿme hevlekha, “all your fleeting days”) is present in the MT, but absent in the Greek versions, other medieval Hebrew mss, and the Targum. Its appearance in the MT may be due to dittography (repetition: the scribe wrote twice what should have been written once) from כָּל יְמֵי חַיֵּי הֶבְלֶךָ (kol yÿme khayye hevlekha, “all the days of your fleeting life”) which appears in the preceding line. On the other hand, its omission in the alternate textual tradition may be due to haplography (accidental omission of repeated words) with the earlier line.

[9:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in your toil in which you toil.”

[9:9]  ¹² tn Heb “under the sun.”