Pengkhotbah 9:7-12
Konteks9:7 Go, eat your food 1 with joy,
and drink your wine with a happy heart,
because God has already approved your works.
9:8 Let your clothes always be white,
and do not spare precious ointment on your head.
9:9 Enjoy 2 life with your beloved wife 3 during all the days of your fleeting 4 life
that God 5 has given you on earth 6 during all your fleeting days; 7
for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work 8 on earth. 9
9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, 10
do it with all your might,
because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, 11
the place where you will eventually go. 12
9:11 Again, 13 I observed this on the earth: 14
the race is not always 15 won by the swiftest,
the battle is not always won by the strongest;
prosperity 16 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 17 always come to those with the most knowledge –
for time and chance may overcome 18 them all.
9:12 Surely, no one 19 knows his appointed time! 20
Like fish that are caught in a deadly 21 net, and like birds that are caught in a snare –
just like them, all people 22 are ensnared 23 at an unfortunate 24 time that falls upon them suddenly.
[9:9] 3 tn Heb “the wife whom you love.”
[9:9] 4 tn As discussed in the note on the word “futile” in 1:2, the term הֶבֶל (hevel) has a wide range of meanings, and should not be translated the same in every place (see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הבֶל). The term is used in two basic ways in OT, literally and figuratively. The literal, concrete sense is used in reference to the wind, man’s transitory breath, evanescent vapor (Isa 57:13; Pss 62:10; 144:4; Prov 21:6; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is often a synonym for “breath; wind” (Eccl 1:14; Isa 57:13; Jer 10:14). The literal sense lent itself to the metaphorical sense. Because breath/vapor/wind is transitory and fleeting, the figurative connotation “fleeting; transitory” arose (e.g., Prov 31:30; Eccl 6:12; 7:15; 9:9; 11:10; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is parallel to “few days” and “[days] which he passes like a shadow” (Eccl 6:12). It is used in reference to youth and vigor (11:10) or life (6:12; 7:15; 9:9) which are “transitory” or “fleeting.” In this context, the most appropriate meaning is “fleeting.”
[9:9] 5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:9] 6 tn Heb “under the sun”
[9:9] 7 tc The phrase כָּל יְמֵי הֶבְלֶךָ (kol yÿme hevlekha, “all your fleeting days”) is present in the MT, but absent in the Greek versions, other medieval Hebrew
[9:9] 8 tn Heb “in your toil in which you toil.”
[9:9] 9 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[9:10] 10 tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”
[9:10] 12 tn Or “where you are about to go.”
[9:11] 13 tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”
[9:11] 14 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[9:11] 15 tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.
[9:12] 19 tn Heb “man.” The term is used here in a generic sense and translated “no one.”
[9:12] 20 tn Heb “time.” BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.d suggests that עֵת (’et, “time”) refers to an “uncertain time.” On the other hand, HALOT 901 s.v. עֵת 6 nuances it as “destined time,” that is, “no one knows his destined time [i.e., hour of destiny].” It is used in parallelism with זְמָן (zÿman, “appointed time; appointed hour”) in 3:1 (HALOT 273 s.v. זְמָן; BDB 273 s.v. זְמָן). Eccl 3:9-15 teaches God’s sovereignty over the appointed time-table of human events. Similarly, Qoheleth here notes that no one knows what God has appointed in any situation or time. This highlights the limitations of human wisdom and human ability, as 9:11 stresses.
[9:12] 21 tn Heb “bad, evil.” The moral connotation hardly fits here. The adjective would seem to indicate that the net is the instrument whereby the fish come to ruin.
[9:12] 22 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
[9:12] 23 tn The Masoretes pointed the consonantal form יוקשׁים (“are ensnared”) as יוּקָשִׁים (yuqashim, Pual participle mpl from ַָיקֹשׁ, yaqosh, “to be ensnared”). This is an unusual form for a Pual participle: (1) The characteristic doubling of the middle consonant was omitted due to the lengthening of the preceding short vowel from יֻקָּשִׁים to יוּקָשִׁים (GKC 74 §20.n and 143 §52.s), and (2) The characteristic prefix מְ (mem) is absent, as in a few other Pual participles, e.g., Exod 3:2; Judg 13:8; 2 Kgs 2:10; Isa 30:24; 54:11 (GKC 143 §52.s). On the other hand, the consonant form יוקשים might actually be an example of the old Qal passive participle which dropped out of Hebrew at an early stage, and was frequently mistaken by the Masoretes as a Pual form (e.g., Jer 13:10; 23:32) (GKC 143 §52.s). Similarly, the Masoretes pointed אכל as אֻכָּל (’ukkal, Pual perfect 3rd person masculine singular “he was eaten”); however, it probably should be pointed אֻכַל (’ukhal, old Qal passive perfect 3rd person masculine singular “he was eaten”) because אָכַל (’akhal) only occurs in the Qal (see IBHS 373-74 §22.6a).
[9:12] 24 tn Heb “evil.” The term רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil; unfortunate”) is repeated in v. 12 in the two parts of the comparison: “fish are caught in an evil (רָעָה) net” and “men are ensnared at an unfortunate (רָעָה) time.”
