Pengkhotbah 3:13

3:13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,

for these things ¹  are a gift from God.

Pengkhotbah 8:13

8:13 But it will not go well with the wicked,

nor will they ²  prolong their ³  days like a shadow, ⁴ 

because they ⁵  do not stand in fear ⁶  before God.

Pengkhotbah 9:16

9:16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, ⁷ 

but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens ⁸  to his advice. ⁹ 

[3:13]  ¹ tn Heb “for it.” The referent of the 3rd person feminine singular independent person pronoun (“it”) is probably the preceding statement: “to eat, drink, and find satisfaction.” This would be an example of an anacoluthon (GKC 505-6 §167.b). Thus the present translation uses “these things” to indicate the reference back to the preceding.

[8:13]  ² tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ³ tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[8:13]  ⁴ tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.

[8:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “he.”

[8:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “they do not fear.”

[9:16]  ⁷ tn Or “power.”

[9:16]  ⁸ tn The participle form נִשְׁמָעִים (nishma’im, Niphal participle mpl from שָׁמַע, “to listen”) is used verbally to emphasize a continual, durative, gnomic action.

[9:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “his words are never listened to.”