Ecclesiastes 6:1

Here is ¹  another misfortune ²  that I have seen on earth, ³  and it weighs ⁴  heavily on people: ⁵ 

I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men:

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men—

There is another serious tragedy I have seen in our world.

I looked long and hard at what goes on around here, and let me tell you, things are bad. And people feel it.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy upon humankind:

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

Here is ¹  another misfortune ²  that I have seen on earth, ³  and it weighs ⁴  heavily on people: ⁵ 

¹ tn The term יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is”) is often used in aphorisms to assert the existence of a particular situation that occurs sometimes. It may indicate that the situation is not the rule but that it does occur on occasion, and may be nuanced “sometimes” (Prov 11:24; 13:7, 23; 14:12; 16:25; 18:24; 20:15; Eccl 2:21; 4:8; 5:12; 6:1; 7:15 [2x]; 8:14 [3x]).

² tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice, wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b); see, e.g., Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5.

³ tn Heb “under the sun.”

⁴ tn The word “weighs” does not appear in Hebrew, but is added in the translation for smoothness.

⁵ tn Heb “it is great upon men.” The phrase וְרַבָּה הִיא עַל־הָאָדָם (vÿrabbah hi’ ’al-ha’adam) is taken in two basic ways: (1) commonality: “it is common among men” (KJV, MLB), “it is prevalent among men” (NASB), “that is frequent among men” (Douay). (2) oppressiveness: “it lies heavy upon men” (RSV, NRSV), “it weighs heavily upon men” (NEB, NAB, NIV), “it presses heavily on men” (Moffatt), “it is heavy upon men” (ASV), and “a grave one it is for man” (NJPS). The preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) argues against the first in favor of the second; the notion of commonality would be denoted by the preposition בְּ (bet, “among”). The singular noun אָדָם (’adam) is used as a collective, denoting “men.” The article on הָאָדָם (ha’adam) is used in a generic sense referring to humankind as a whole; the generic article is often used with a collective singular (IBHS 244 §13.5.1f).