Pengkhotbah 6:9

6:9 It is better to be content with ¹  what the eyes can see ² 

than for one’s heart always to crave more. ³ 

This continual longing ⁴  is futile – like ⁵  chasing the wind.

Pengkhotbah 7:6

7:6 For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns ⁶  under a cooking pot,

so is the laughter of the fool.

This kind of folly ⁷  also is useless. ⁸ 

Pengkhotbah 7:23

Human Wisdom is Limited

7:23 I have examined all this by wisdom;

I said, “I am determined ⁹  to comprehend this” ¹⁰  – but it was beyond my grasp. ¹¹ 

Pengkhotbah 7:27

7:27 The Teacher says:

I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.

Pengkhotbah 9:13

Most People Are Not Receptive to Wise Counsel

9:13 This is what I also observed about wisdom on earth, ¹² 

and it is a great burden ¹³  to me:

[6:9]  ¹ tn The phrase “to be content with” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:9]  ² tn The expression מַרְאֵה עֵינַיִם (mar’eh ’enayim, “the seeing of the eyes”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., seeing an object) for effect (i.e., being content with what the eyes can see); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 552-54.

[6:9]  ³ tn Heb “the roaming of the soul.” The expression מֵהֲלָךְ־נָפֶשׁ (mehalakh-nafesh, “the roaming of the soul”) is a metonymy for unfulfilled desires. The term “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) is used as a metonymy of association for man’s desires and appetites (BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 5.c; 6.a). This also involves the personification of the roving appetite as “roving” (מֵהֲלָךְ); see BDB 235 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.f; 232 I.3.

[6:9]  ⁴ tn The phrase “continual longing” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:9]  ⁵ tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[7:6]  ⁶ tn The term “thorns” (הַסִּירִים, hassirim) refers to twigs from wild thorn bushes which were used as fuel for quick heat, but burn out quickly before a cooking pot can be properly heated (e.g., Pss 58:9; 118:12).

[7:6]  ⁷ tn The word “kind of folly” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:6]  ⁸ tn It is difficult to determine whether the Hebrew term הֶבֶל (hevel) means “fleeting” or “useless” in this context. The imagery of quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot is ambiguous and can be understood in more than one way: (1) It is useless to try to heat a cooking pot by burning thorns because they burn out before the pot can be properly heated; (2) the heat produced by quick-burning thorns is fleeting – it produces quick heat, but lasts only for a moment. Likewise, the “laughter of a fool” can be taken in both ways: (1) In comparison to the sober reflection of the wise, the laughter of fools is morally useless: the burning of thorns, like the laughter of fools, makes a lot of noise but accomplishes nothing; (2) the laughter of fools is fleeting due to the brevity of life and certainty of death. Perhaps this is an example of intentional ambiguity.

[7:23]  ⁹ tn The cohortative אֶחְכָּמָה (’ekhkamah, from חָכַם, khakham,“to be wise”) emphasizes the resolve (determination) of Qoheleth to become wise enough to understand the perplexities of life.

[7:23]  ¹⁰ tn Or “I am determined to become wise”

[7:23]  ¹¹ tn Or “but it eluded me”; Heb “but it was far from me.”

[9:13]  ¹² tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:13]  ¹³ tn The term “burden” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.