Yudas 1:18-19

1:18 For they said to you, “In the end time there will come ¹  scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.” ²  1:19 These people are divisive, ³  worldly, ⁴  devoid of the Spirit. ⁵ 

Mazmur 78:34-37

78:34 When he struck them down, ⁶  they sought his favor; ⁷ 

they turned back and longed for God.

78:35 They remembered that God was their protector, ⁸ 

and that the sovereign God was their deliverer. ⁹ 

78:36 But they deceived him with their words, ¹⁰ 

and lied to him. ¹¹ 

78:37 They were not really committed to him, ¹² 

and they were unfaithful to his covenant.

Mazmur 106:12-13

106:12 They believed his promises; ¹³ 

they sang praises to him.

106:13 They quickly forgot what he had done; ¹⁴ 

they did not wait for his instructions. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 3:10

3:10 In spite of all this, ¹⁶  Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,” ¹⁷  says the Lord.

Yeremia 34:15

34:15 Recently, however, you yourselves ¹⁸  showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own. ¹⁹ 

Matius 13:21

13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ²⁰  when ²¹  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Matius 13:2

13:2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while ²²  the whole crowd stood on the shore.

Pengkhotbah 2:20-22

2:20 So I began to despair ²³  about all the fruit of ²⁴  my labor ²⁵ 

for which I worked so hard ²⁶  on earth. ²⁷ 

2:21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill;

however, he must hand over ²⁸  the fruit of his labor ²⁹  as an inheritance ³⁰ 

to someone else who did not work for it.

This also is futile, and an awful injustice! ³¹ 

Painful Days and Restless Nights

2:22 What does a man acquire from all his labor

and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth? ³² 

[1:18]  ¹ tn Grk “be.”

[1:18]  ² tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”

[1:18]  sn Jude cites 2 Pet 3:3, changing a few of the words among other things, cleaning up the syntax, conforming it to Hellenistic style.

[1:19]  ³ tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).

[1:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”

[1:19]  sn The phrase devoid of the Spirit may well indicate Jude’s and Peter’s assessment of the spiritual status of the false teachers. Those who do not have the Spirit are clearly not saved.

[78:34]  ⁶ tn Or “killed them,” that is, killed large numbers of them.

[78:34]  ⁷ tn Heb “they sought him.”

[78:35]  ⁸ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[78:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “and [that] God Most High [was] their redeemer.”

[78:36]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with their mouth.”

[78:36]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and with their tongue they lied to him.”

[78:37]  ¹² tn Heb “and their heart was not firm with him.”

[106:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “his words.”

[106:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his works.”

[106:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his counsel.”

[3:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And even in all this.”

[3:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “ has not turned back to me with all her heart but only in falsehood.”

[34:15]  ¹⁸ tn The presence of the independent pronoun in the Hebrew text is intended to contrast their actions with those of their ancestors.

[34:15]  ¹⁹ sn This refers to the temple. See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 and see the translator’s note on 7:10 and the study note on 10:25 for the explanation of the idiom involved here.

[13:21]  ²⁰ tn Grk “is temporary.”

[13:21]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:2]  ²² tn Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.

[2:20]  ²³ tn Heb “I turned aside to allow my heart despair.” The term לִבִּי (libbi, “my heart”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., heart) for the whole (i.e., whole person); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648.

[2:20]  ²⁴ 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”).

[2:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all my toil.” As in 2:18-19, the term עֲמָלִי (’amali, “my labor”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., my labor) for effect (i.e., the fruit of my labor). The metonymy is recognized by several translations: “all the fruits of my labor” (NAB); “all the fruit of my labor” (NASB); “all the gains I had made” (NJPS).

[2:20]  ²⁶ tn Here the author uses an internal cognate accusative construction (accusative noun and verb from the same root) for emphasis: שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי הֶעָמָל (he’amal she’amalti, “the toil for which I had toiled”); see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g.

[2:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[2:21]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he must give.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, “to give” + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) refers back to עֲמָלוֹ (’amalo, “his labor”) which is treated in this line as a metonymy of cause for effect, that is, “he must give it” = “he must give his labor” = “he must give the fruit of his labor.”

[2:21]  sn As in 2:18-19, Qoheleth laments the injustice that a person who works diligently in wisdom must one day hand over the fruit of his labor (i.e., his fortune and the care of his achievements) to his successor. There is no guarantee that one’s heir will be wise and be a good steward of this wealth, or be foolish and squander it – in which case, the former man’s entire life’s work would be in vain.

[2:21]  ²⁹ tn Heb “it”; the referent (“the fruit of his labor”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:21]  ³⁰ tn Or “he must turn over an inheritance”; or “he must turn it over, namely, an inheritance.” There are two approaches to the syntax of חֶלְקוֹ (khelqo, “his inheritance”): (1) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is a subjective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which he must give to his heir. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is Qoheleth in 2:21a who worked hard to amass the fortune. The noun חֵלֶק (kheleq, “inheritance”) functions as an adverbial accusative of state (GKC 372 §118.a) or a predicate accusative (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57): “He must give it [i.e., his fortune] as an inheritance.” (2) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is an objective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which the heir will receive from Qoheleth. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is the heir in 2:21b. The noun חֵלֶק (“inheritance”) functions as the accusative direct object in apposition (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 15-16, §71) to the 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, “he must give it”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, + 3rd person masculine singular suffix): “He must give it, namely, his inheritance, to one who did not work for it.”

[2:21]  ³¹ 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). The phrase רָעָה רַבָּה (ra’ah rabbah) connotes “grave injustice” or “great misfortune” (e.g., Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5). It is expressed well as: “This too is…a great misfortune” (NAB, NIV, MLB) and “utterly wrong!” (NEB).

[2:21]  sn Verses 18-21 are arranged into two sub-units (2:18-19 and 2:20-21). Each contains a parallel structure: (1) Introductory lament: “I hated all my toil” and “I began to despair about all my toil.” (2) Reason for the lament: “I must turn over the fruit of my labor to the hands of my successor” and “he must hand over the fruit of his work as an inheritance.” (3) Description of successor: “who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?” and “he did not work for it.” (4) Concluding statement: “This also is fruitless!” and “This also is profitless and an awful injustice!”

[2:22]  ³² tn Heb “under the sun.” The rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “Man acquires nothing” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51).