Ecclesiastes 8:15-17

Context

Enjoy Life In Spite of Its Injustices

8:15 So I recommend the enjoyment of life,¹

for there is nothing better on earth² for a person to do³ except⁴ to eat, drink, and enjoy⁵ life.⁶

So⁷ joy⁸ will accompany him in his toil

during the days of his life which God gives him on earth.⁹

Limitations of Human Wisdom

8:16 When I tried¹⁰ to gain¹¹ wisdom

and to observe the activity¹² on earth –

even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night¹³ –

8:17 then I discerned all that God has done:¹⁴

No one really comprehends what happens¹⁵ on earth.¹⁶

Despite all human¹⁷ efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp¹⁸ it.¹⁹

Even if²⁰ a wise person claimed²¹ that he understood,

he would not really comprehend²² it.²³

[8:15] ¹tn Heb “the enjoyment.” The phrase “of life” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:15] ²tn Heb “under the sun.”

[8:15] ³tn The phrase “to do” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:15] ⁴tn The construction אִם…כִּי (ki…’im) is used as a particle of exception to limit the preceding clause (“except; nothing but”). See, e.g., Gen 28:17; 39:9; Lev 21:2; Num 14:30; Deut 10:12; 1 Sam 30:22; 2 Kgs 4:2; 5:15; 2 Chr 21:17; Esth 2:15; 5:12; Eccl 3:12; Isa 42:19; Dan 10:21; Mic 6:8 (cf. HALOT 471 s.v. אִם כִּי B.2; BDB 474 s.v. אִם כִּי 2.a).

[8:15] ⁵sn Except to eat, drink, and enjoy life. Qoheleth is not commending a self-indulgent lifestyle of Epicurean hedonism. Nor is he lamenting the absolute futility of life and the lack of eternal retribution. He is submitting to the reality that in a sin-cursed world there is much of human existence marked by relative futility. Since the righteous man cannot assume that he will automatically experience temporal prosperity and blessings on this earth, he should – at the very least – enjoy each day to its fullest as a gift from God. D. R. Glenn (“Ecclesiastes,” BKCOT, 997) notes, “Each day’s joys should be received as gifts from God’s hands and be savored as God permits (3:13; 5:19).”

[8:15] ⁶tn The term “life” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[8:15] ⁷tn The vav introduces a logical conclusion.

[8:15] ⁸tn Heb “it”; the referent (enjoyment of life) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:15] ⁹tn Heb “under the sun.”

[8:16] ¹⁰tn Heb “I applied my heart.”

[8:16] ¹¹tn Heb “to know.”

[8:16] ¹²tn Heb “and to see the business which is done.”

[8:16] ¹³tn Heb “for no one sees sleep with their eyes either day or night.” The construction גַם …כִּי (ki… gam) expresses a concessive sense: “even though” (e.g., Ps 23:4; Prov 22:6; Eccl 4:14; Isa 1:15; Lam 3:8; Hos 8:10; 9:16); cf. HALOT 196 s.v. גַּם 9; BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 6; 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c.

[8:17] ¹⁴tn Heb “all the work of God.”

[8:17] ¹⁵tn Heb “the work that is done.”

[8:17] ¹⁶tn Heb “under the sun.”

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

[8:17] ¹⁸tn Heb “find.”

[8:17] ¹⁹tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:17] ²⁰tn 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] ²¹tn 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] ²²tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”

[8:17] ²³tn 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.