Ulangan 32:25

32:25 The sword will make people childless outside,

and terror will do so inside;

they will destroy ¹  both the young man and the virgin,

the infant and the gray-haired man.

Ulangan 32:2

32:2 My teaching will drop like the rain,

my sayings will drip like the dew, ² 

as rain drops upon the grass,

and showers upon new growth.

Pengkhotbah 3:9-10

Man is Ignorant of God’s Timing

3:9 What benefit can a worker ³  gain from his toil? ⁴ 

3:10 I have observed the burden

that God has given to people ⁵  to keep them occupied.

[32:25]  ¹ tn A verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text; for purposes of English style one suitable to the context is supplied.

[32:2]  ² tn Or “mist,” “light drizzle.” In some contexts the term appears to refer to light rain, rather than dew.

[3:9]  ³ tn The term הָעוֹשֶׂה (ha’oseh, article + Qal active participle ms from עָשַׂה, ’asah, “to do”) functions substantively (“the worker”); see BDB 794 s.v. עָשַׂה II.1. This is a figurative description of man (metonymy of association), and plays on the repetition of עָשַׂה (verb: “to do,” noun: “work”) throughout the passage. In the light of God’s orchestration of human affairs, man’s efforts cannot change anything. It refers to man in general with the article functioning in a generic sense (see IBHS 244-45 §13.5.1f; Joüon 2:511 §137.m).

[3:9]  ⁴ sn This rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “Man gains nothing from his toil!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). Any advantage that man might gain from his toil is nullified by his ignorance of divine providence.

[3:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “the sons of man.”