Ecclesiastes 9:2-3
Context9:2 Everyone shares the same fate 1 –
the righteous and the wicked,
the good and the bad, 2
the ceremonially clean and unclean,
those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; 3
what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.
9:3 This is the unfortunate fact 4 about everything that happens on earth: 5
the same fate awaits 6 everyone.
In addition to this, the hearts of all people 7 are full of evil,
and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die. 8
Ecclesiastes 11:6
Context11:6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and do not stop working 9 until the evening; 10
for you do not know which activity 11 will succeed 12 –
whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. 13


[9:2] 1 tn Heb “all things just as to everyone, one fate.”
[9:2] 2 tc The MT reads simply “the good,” but the Greek versions read “the good and the bad.” In contrast to the other four pairs in v. 2 (“the righteous and the wicked,” “those who sacrifice, and those who do not sacrifice,” “the good man…the sinner,” and “those who make vows…those who are afraid to make vows”), the MT has a triad in the second line: לַטּוֹב וְלַטָּהוֹר וְלַטָּמֵא (lattov vÿlattahor vÿlattame’, “the good, and the clean, and the unclean”). This reading in the Leningrad Codex (ca.
[9:2] 3 tn Heb “As is the good (man), so is the sinner.”
[9:3] 5 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[9:3] 6 tn The term “awaits” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.
[9:3] 7 tn Heb “also the heart of the sons of man.” Here “heart” is a collective singular.
[9:3] 8 tn Heb “and after that [they go] to [the place of] the dead.”
[11:6] 7 tn Heb “do not let your hand rest.” The Hebrew phrase “do not let your hand rest” is an idiom that means “do not stop working” or “do not be idle” (e.g., Eccl 7:18); cf. BDB 628 s.v. נוּחַ B.1. Several English versions capture the sense of the idiom well: “do not stop working” (NEB); “do not be idle” (MLB); “let not your hand be idle” (NAB); “let not your hands be idle” (NIV); “stay not your hand” (Moffatt). The term “hand” is a synecdoche of part (i.e., do not let your hand rest) for the whole person (i.e., do not allow yourself to stop working).
[11:6] 8 tn The terms “morning” (בֹּקֶר, boqer) and “evening” (עֶרֶב, ’erev) form a merism (a figure of speech using two polar extremes to include everything in between) that connotes “from morning until evening.” The point is not that the farmer should plant at two times in the day (morning and evening), but that he should plant all day long (from morning until evening). This merism is reflected in several translations: “in the morning…until evening” (NEB, Moffatt).
[11:6] 9 tn The term “activity” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
[11:6] 10 tn The verb כָּשֵׁר (kasher, “to prosper”) is used metonymically to denote “will succeed.” In 11:10, it means “skill in work.”