Pengkhotbah 7:23-24
Konteks7:23 I have examined all this by wisdom;
I said, “I am determined 1 to comprehend this” 2 – but it was beyond my grasp. 3
7:24 Whatever has happened is beyond human 4 understanding; 5
it is far deeper than anyone can fathom. 6
Pengkhotbah 8:16-17
Konteks8:16 When I tried 7 to gain 8 wisdom
and to observe the activity 9 on earth –
even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night 10 –
8:17 then I discerned all that God has done: 11
No one really comprehends what happens 12 on earth. 13
Despite all human 14 efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp 15 it. 16
Even if 17 a wise person claimed 18 that he understood,
he would not really comprehend 19 it. 20
Pengkhotbah 11:5-6
Konteks11:5 Just as you do not know the path 21 of the wind,
or how the bones form 22 in the womb of a pregnant woman, 23
so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
11:6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and do not stop working 24 until the evening; 25
for you do not know which activity 26 will succeed 27 –
whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. 28
[7:23] 1 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] 2 tn Or “I am determined to become wise”
[7:23] 3 tn Or “but it eluded me”; Heb “but it was far from me.”
[7:24] 4 tn The word “human” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[7:24] 5 tn Heb “is far away.”
[7:24] 6 tn Heb “It is deep, deep – who can find it?” The repetition of the word “deep” emphasizes the degree of incomprehensibility. See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a.
[8:16] 7 tn Heb “I applied my heart.”
[8:16] 9 tn Heb “and to see the business which is done.”
[8:16] 10 tn Heb “for no one sees sleep with their eyes either day or night.” The construction גַם …כִּי (ki… gam) expresses a concessive sense: “even though” (e.g., Ps 23:4; Prov 22:6; Eccl 4:14; Isa 1:15; Lam 3:8; Hos 8:10; 9:16); cf. HALOT 196 s.v. גַּם 9; BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 6; 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c.
[8:17] 11 tn Heb “all the work of God.”
[8:17] 12 tn Heb “the work that is done.”
[8:17] 13 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[8:17] 14 tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.
[8:17] 16 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[8:17] 17 tn The particle אִם (’im, “even if”) introduces the protasis in a real conditional clause (“If a wise man …”); see IBHS 636-37 §38.2d; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 74, §453.
[8:17] 18 tn The imperfect tense verb יֹאמַר (yo’mar, “to say”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility (see IBHS 508 §31.4e; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31, §169).
[8:17] 19 tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”
[8:17] 20 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is an implied direct object and has been supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.
[11:5] 21 tn Heb “what is the way of the wind.” Some take these words with what follows: “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman.” There is debate whether הָרוּחַ מַה־דֶּרֶךְ (mah-derekh haruakh) refers to the wind (“the path of the wind”) or the human spirit of a child in the mother’s womb (“how the spirit comes”). The LXX understood it as the wind: “the way of the wind” (ἡ ὁδὸς τοῦ πνεύματος, Jh Jodos tou pneumatos); however, the Targum and Vulgate take it as the human spirit. The English versions are divided: (1) spirit: “the way of the spirit” (KJV, YLT, Douay); “the breath of life” (NAB); “how a pregnant woman comes to have…a living spirit in her womb” (NEB); “how the lifebreath passes into the limbs within the womb of the pregnant woman” (NJPS); “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child” (RSV); “how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb” (NRSV); and (2) wind: “the way of the wind” (ASV, RSV margin); “the path of the wind” (NASB, NIV); and “how the wind blows” (MLB, Moffatt).
[11:5] 22 tn The term “form” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
[11:5] 23 tn Heb “the one who is full.” The feminine adjective מְלֵאָה (mÿle’ah, from מָלֵא, male’, “full”) is used as a substantive referring to a pregnant woman whose womb is filled with her infant (HALOT 584 s.v. מָלֵא 2; BDB 571 s.v. מָלֵא). This term is used in reference to a pregnant woman in later Hebrew (HALOT 584 s.v. מָלֵא). The LXX understood the term in this sense: κυοφορούσης (kuoforoushs, “pregnant woman”).
[11:6] 24 tn Heb “do not let your hand rest.” The Hebrew phrase “do not let your hand rest” is an idiom that means “do not stop working” or “do not be idle” (e.g., Eccl 7:18); cf. BDB 628 s.v. נוּחַ B.1. Several English versions capture the sense of the idiom well: “do not stop working” (NEB); “do not be idle” (MLB); “let not your hand be idle” (NAB); “let not your hands be idle” (NIV); “stay not your hand” (Moffatt). The term “hand” is a synecdoche of part (i.e., do not let your hand rest) for the whole person (i.e., do not allow yourself to stop working).
[11:6] 25 tn The terms “morning” (בֹּקֶר, boqer) and “evening” (עֶרֶב, ’erev) form a merism (a figure of speech using two polar extremes to include everything in between) that connotes “from morning until evening.” The point is not that the farmer should plant at two times in the day (morning and evening), but that he should plant all day long (from morning until evening). This merism is reflected in several translations: “in the morning…until evening” (NEB, Moffatt).
[11:6] 26 tn The term “activity” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
[11:6] 27 tn The verb כָּשֵׁר (kasher, “to prosper”) is used metonymically to denote “will succeed.” In 11:10, it means “skill in work.”
