Pengkhotbah 2:19

2:19 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 7:26

7:26 I discovered this: ⁶ 

More bitter than death is the kind of ⁷  woman ⁸  who is like a hunter’s snare; ⁹ 

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 9:1

Everyone Will Die

9:1 So I reflected on all this, ¹⁰  attempting to clear ¹¹  it all up.

I concluded that ¹²  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;

whether a person will be loved or hated ¹³  –

no one knows what lies ahead. ¹⁴ 

Pengkhotbah 9:11

Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events

9:11 Again, ¹⁵  I observed this on the earth: ¹⁶ 

the race is not always ¹⁷  won by the swiftest,

the battle is not always won by the strongest;

prosperity ¹⁸  does not always belong to those who are the wisest,

wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,

nor does success ¹⁹  always come to those with the most knowledge –

for time and chance may overcome ²⁰  them all.

[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.”

[7:26]  ⁶ tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:26]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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).

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction + Qal infinitive construct from בּוּר, bur, “to make clear”) denotes “to examine; to make clear; to clear up; to explain” (HALOT 116 s.v. בור; BDB 101 s.v. בּוּר). The term is related to Arabic baraw “to examine” (G. R. Driver, “Supposed Arabisms in the Old Testament,” JBL 55 [1936]: 108). This verb is related to the Hebrew noun בֹּר (bor, “cleanness”) and adjective בַּר (bar, “clean”). The term is used in the OT only in Ecclesiastes (1:13; 2:3; 7:25; 9:1). This use of the infinitive has a connotative sense (“attempting to”), and functions in a complementary sense, relative to the main verb.

[9:1]  ¹² tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”

[9:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”

[9:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”

[9:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:11]  ¹⁷ tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.

[9:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “bread.”

[9:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “favor.”

[9:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “happen to.”