Pengkhotbah 3:5

3:5 A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

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 4:11

4:11 Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm,

but how can one person keep warm by himself?

Pengkhotbah 6:5

6:5 though it never saw the light of day ²  nor knew anything, ³ 

yet it has more rest ⁴  than that man –

Pengkhotbah 6:8

6:8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ⁵ 

And what advantage ⁶  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ⁷ 

Pengkhotbah 10:3

10:3 Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, ⁸ 

and shows ⁹  everyone what a fool he is. ¹⁰ 

Pengkhotbah 10:10

10:10 If an iron axhead ¹¹  is blunt and a workman ¹²  does not sharpen ¹³  its edge, ¹⁴ 

he must exert a great deal of effort; ¹⁵ 

so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

Pengkhotbah 10:12

Words and Works of Wise Men and Fools

10:12 The words of a wise person ¹⁶  win him ¹⁷  favor, ¹⁸ 

but the words ¹⁹  of a fool are self-destructive. ²⁰ 

[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.

[6:5]  ² tn Heb “it never saw the sun.”

[6:5]  ³ tn The word “anything” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:5]  ⁴ sn The Hebrew term translated rest here refers to freedom from toil, anxiety, and misery – part of the miserable misfortune that the miserly man of wealth must endure.

[6:8]  ⁵ sn So what advantage does the wise man have over a fool? The rhetorical question in Hebrew implies a negative answer: the wise man has no absolute advantage over a fool in the sense that both will share the same fate: death. Qoheleth should not be misunderstood here as denying that wisdom has no relative advantage over folly; elsewhere he affirms that wisdom does yield some relative benefits in life (7:1-22). However, wisdom cannot deliver one from death.

[6:8]  ⁶ sn As in the preceding parallel line, this rhetorical question implies a negative answer (see the note after the word “fool” in the preceding line).

[6:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “ What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”

[10:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “he lacks his heart.”

[10:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “he tells everyone.”

[10:3]  ¹⁰ sn A fool’s lack of wisdom is obvious to everyone, even when he is engaged in the simple, ordinary actions of life.

[10:10]  ¹¹ tn The term “ax head” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. The preceding noun “iron” functions as a metonymy of material (i.e., iron) for the object with which it is associated (i.e., ax head).

[10:10]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the workman) is implied, and has been specified in the translation for clarity

[10:10]  ¹³ tn The verb קלל in the Pilpel means “to sharpen; to make a blade sharp” (HALOT 1104 s.v. קלל 1).This denominative verb is derived from the rare noun II קָלַל “smooth; shiny” (referring to bronze; Ezek 1:7; Dan 10:6; HALOT 1105 s.v.). Sharpening the blade or head of a bronze ax will make it smooth and shiny. It is not derived from I קָלַל (qalal) “to treat light” or the noun I קְלָלָה (qÿlalah) “curse.” Nor is it related to I קָלַל “to shake” (Ezek 21:26); cf. HALOT 1104. BDB 886 s.v. קָלַל 2 erroneously relates it to I קָלַל, suggesting “to whet” or “to move quickly to and fro.”

[10:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “face.”

[10:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “strength.” The term וַחֲיָלִים (vakhayalim, conjunction + plural noun from חַיִל, khayil, “strength; efficiency”) is an example of a plural of intensification (GKC 397-98 §124.e). The point is that it is a waste of a great deal of strength and energy. If a person is not smart, he will have to use a lot of energy and waste his efficiency.

[10:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “of a wise man’s mouth.”

[10:12]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “win him” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:12]  ¹⁸ tn Or “are gracious.” The antithetical parallelism suggests that חֵן (khen) does not denote “gracious character” but “[gain] favor” (e.g., Gen 39:21; Exod 3:21; 11:3; 12:36; Prov 3:4, 34; 13:15; 22:1; 28:23; Eccl 9:11); cf. HALOT 332 s.v. חֵן 2; BDB 336 s.v. חֵן 2. The LXX, on the other hand, rendered חֶן with χάρις (caris, “gracious”). The English versions are divided: “are gracious” (KJV, YLT, ASV, NASB, NIV) and “win him favor” (NEB, RSV, NRSV, NAB, MLB, NJPS, Moffatt).

[10:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “lips.”

[10:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “consume him”; or “engulf him.” The verb I בלע (“to swallow”) creates a striking wordplay on the homonymic root II בלע (“to speak eloquently”; HALOT 134-35 s.v בלע). Rather than speaking eloquently (II בלע, “to speak eloquently”), the fool utters words that are self-destructive (I בלע, “to swallow, engulf”).