Pengkhotbah 2:19
Konteks2:19 Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?
Yet 1 he will be master over all the fruit of 2 my labor 3
for which I worked so wisely 4 on earth! 5
This also is futile!
Pengkhotbah 3:22
Konteks3:22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people 6 to enjoy their work, 7
because that is their 8 reward;
for who can show them what the future holds? 9
Pengkhotbah 5:2
Konteks5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God,
for God is in heaven and you are on earth!
Therefore, let your words be few.
Pengkhotbah 5:18
Konteks5:18 I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: 10
to eat and drink, 11 and find enjoyment in all their 12 hard work 13 on earth 14
during the few days of their life which God has given them,
for this is their reward. 15
Pengkhotbah 7:14
Konteks7:14 In times of prosperity 16 be joyful,
but in times of adversity 17 consider this:
God has made one as well as the other, 18
so that no one can discover what the future holds. 19
Pengkhotbah 7:26
KonteksMore bitter than death is the kind of 21 woman 22 who is like a hunter’s snare; 23
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.
Pengkhotbah 8:8
Konteks8:8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, 24
so no one has power over the day of his 25 death.
Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, 26
so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. 27
Pengkhotbah 8:17
Konteks8:17 then I discerned all that God has done: 28
No one really comprehends what happens 29 on earth. 30
Despite all human 31 efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp 32 it. 33
Even if 34 a wise person claimed 35 that he understood,
he would not really comprehend 36 it. 37
Pengkhotbah 9:9
Konteks9:9 Enjoy 38 life with your beloved wife 39 during all the days of your fleeting 40 life
that God 41 has given you on earth 42 during all your fleeting days; 43
for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work 44 on earth. 45
Pengkhotbah 11:9
Konteks11:9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, 46
and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.
Follow the impulses 47 of your heart and the desires 48 of your eyes,
but know that God will judge your motives and actions. 49
[2:19] 1 tn The vav on וְיִשְׁלַט (vÿyishlat, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from שָׁלַט, shalat, “to be master”) is adversative (“yet”).
[2:19] 2 tn The phrase “the fruit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “labor”).
[2:19] 3 tn Heb “my labor.” As in 2:18, the term עֲמָלִי (’amali, “my labor”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., my labor) for effect (i.e., fruit of my labor). The metonymy is recognized by several translations: “he will control all the wealth that I gained” (NJPS); “he will have control over all the fruits of my labor” (NAB); “he will have mastery over all the fruits of my labor” (NEB); “he will have control over all the fruit of my labor” (NASB); “he will be master over all my possessions” (MLB).
[2:19] 4 tn An internal cognate accusative construction (accusative and verb from same root) is used for emphasis: שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי עֲמָלִי (’amali she’amalti, “my toil for which I had toiled”); see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g. The two verbs שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי וְשֶׁחָכַמְתִּי (she’amalti vÿshekhakhamti, “for which I had labored and for which I had acted wisely”) form a verbal hendiadys (two separate verbs used in association to communicate one idea): “for I had labored so wisely.” The second verb is used adverbially to modify the first verb, which functions in its full verbal sense.
[2:19] 5 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[3:22] 9 tn Heb “what will be after him” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV) or “afterward” (cf. NJPS).
[5:18] 10 tn Heb “Behold, that which I have seen, I, good which is beautiful.” The phrase “for people” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[5:18] 11 sn The phrase “to eat and to drink” is a common idiom in Ecclesiastes for a person enjoying the fruit of his labor (e.g., 2:24; 3:13).
[5:18] 12 tn Heb “his,” and three times later in the verse.
[5:18] 13 tn Heb “the toil which one toils.”
[5:18] 14 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[5:18] 15 tn The term חֵלֶק (kheleq, “lot”) has a wide range of meanings: (1) “share of spoils” (Gen 14:24; Num 31:36; 1 Sam 30:24), (2) “portion of food” (Lev 6:10; Deut 18:8; Hab 1:16), (3) “portion [or tract] of land” (Deut 10:9; 12:12; Josh 19:9), (4) “portion” or “possession” (Num 18:20; Deut 32:9), (5) “inheritance” (2 Kgs 9:10; Amos 7:4), (6) “portion” or “award” (Job 20:29; 27:13; 31:2; Isa 17:14) or “profit; reward” (Eccl 2:10, 21; 3:22; 5:17-18; 9:6, 9); see HALOT 323 s.v. II חֵלֶק; BDB 324 s.v. חֵלֶק. Throughout Ecclesiastes, the term is used in reference to man’s temporal profit from his labor and his reward from God (e.g., Eccl 3:22; 9:9).
[7:14] 16 tn Heb “the day of good.”
[7:14] 17 tn Heb “the day of evil.”
[7:14] 18 tn Less probable renderings of this line are “God hath made the one side by side with the other” (ASV) and “God has set the one alongside the other” (NEB).
[7:14] 19 tn Heb “anything after him.” This line is misinterpreted by several versions: “that man may not find against him any just complaint” (Douay); “consequently, man may find no fault with Him” (NJPS); “so that man cannot find fault with him in anything” (NAB).
[7:26] 20 tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[7:26] 21 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] 22 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] 23 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).
[8:8] 24 tn Heb “There is not a man who has mastery over the wind to restrain the wind.”
[8:8] 25 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:8] 26 tn Heb “There is no discharge in war.”
[8:17] 28 tn Heb “all the work of God.”
[8:17] 29 tn Heb “the work that is done.”
[8:17] 30 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[8:17] 31 tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.
[8:17] 33 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[8:17] 34 tn 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] 35 tn 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] 36 tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”
[8:17] 37 tn 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.
[9:9] 39 tn Heb “the wife whom you love.”
[9:9] 40 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] 41 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:9] 42 tn Heb “under the sun”
[9:9] 43 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
[9:9] 44 tn Heb “in your toil in which you toil.”
[9:9] 45 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[11:9] 46 tn Heb “in your youth”; or “in your childhood.”
[11:9] 47 tn Heb “walk in the ways of your heart.”
[11:9] 49 tn Heb “and know that concerning all these God will bring you into judgment.” The point is not that following one’s impulses and desires is inherently bad and will bring condemnation from God. Rather the point seems to be: As you follow your impulses and desires, realize that all you think and do will eventually be evaluated by God. So one must seek joy within the boundaries of God’s moral standards.
