Yesaya 13:18

13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; ¹ 

they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, ² 

they will not ³  look with pity on children.

Yehezkiel 9:5

9:5 While I listened, he said to the others, ⁴  “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare ⁵  anyone!

Mikha 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ⁶  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ⁷ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ⁸ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ⁹ 

Mikha 7:6

7:6 For a son thinks his father is a fool,

a daughter challenges ¹⁰  her mother,

and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;

a man’s enemies are his own servants. ¹¹ 

Mikha 7:2

7:2 Faithful men have disappeared ¹²  from the land;

there are no godly men left. ¹³ 

They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood; ¹⁴ 

they hunt their own brother with a net. ¹⁵ 

Pengkhotbah 2:4

Futility of Materialism

2:4 I increased my possessions: ¹⁶ 

I built houses for myself; ¹⁷ 

I planted vineyards for myself.

[13:18]  ¹ tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.

[13:18]  ² tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”

[13:18]  ³ tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.

[9:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “to these he said in my ears.”

[9:5]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[7:2]  ⁶ tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ⁹ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[7:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “rises up against.”

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the enemies of a man are the men of his house.”

[7:2]  ¹² tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”

[7:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and an upright one among men there is not.”

[7:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for bloodshed” (so NASB); TEV “for a chance to commit murder.”

[7:2]  ¹⁵ sn Micah compares these ungodly people to hunters trying to capture their prey with a net.

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “my works”; or “my accomplishments.” The term מַעֲשָׂי (ma’asay, “my works”) has been handled in two basic ways: (1) great works or projects, and (2) possessions. The latter assumes a metonymy, one’s effort standing for the possessions it produces. Both interpretations are reflected in the major English translations: “works” (KJV, NEB, NAB, ASV, NASB, MLB, RSV, Douay, Moffatt), “projects” (NIV), and “possessions” (NJPS).

[2:4]  sn This section (2:4-11) is unified and bracketed by the repetition of the verb גָּדַל (gadal, “to increase”) which occurs at the beginning (2:4) and end (2:9), and by the repetition of the root עשה (noun: “works” and verb: “to do, make, acquire”) which occurs throughout the section (2:4, 5, 6, 8, 11).

[2:4]  ¹⁷ sn The expression for myself is repeated eight times in 2:4-8 to emphasize that Qoheleth did not deny himself any acquisition. He indulged himself in acquiring everything he desired. His vast resources as king allowed him the unlimited opportunity to indulge himself. He could have anything his heart desired, and he did.