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;
4:2 So I considered 1 those who are dead and gone 2
more fortunate than those who are still alive. 3
6:5 though it never saw the light of day 4 nor knew anything, 5
yet it has more rest 6 than that man –
6:9 It is better to be content with 7 what the eyes can see 8
than for one’s heart always to crave more. 9
This continual longing 10 is futile – like 11 chasing the wind.
9:16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, 12
but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens 13 to his advice. 14
9:17 The words of the wise are heard in quiet,
more than the shouting of a ruler is heard 15 among fools.
9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can destroy much that is good.
12:2 before the sun and the light 16 of the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds disappear 17 after the rain;
1 tn The verb שָׁבַח (shavakh) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “to praise; to laud”; and (2) “to congratulate” (HALOT 1387 s.v. I שׁבח; BDB 986 s.v. II שָׁבַח). The LXX translated it as ἐπῄνεσα (ephnesa, “I praised”). The English versions reflect the range of possible meanings: “praised” (KJV, ASV, Douay); “congratulated” (MLB, NASB); “declared/judged/accounted/thought…fortunate/happy” (NJPS, NEB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NAB).
2 tn Heb “the dead who had already died.”
3 tn Heb “the living who are alive.”
4 tn Heb “it never saw the sun.”
5 tn The word “anything” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 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.
7 tn The phrase “to be content with” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 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.
9 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.
10 tn The phrase “continual longing” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
11 tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
12 tn Or “power.”
13 tn The participle form נִשְׁמָעִים (nishma’im, Niphal participle mpl from שָׁמַע, “to listen”) is used verbally to emphasize a continual, durative, gnomic action.
14 tn Heb “his words are never listened to.”
15 tn The phrase “is heard” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness. Note its appearance in the previous line.
16 tn Heb “the light and the moon and the stars.” The phrase “the light and the moon” is a hendiadys (two separate terms denoting one idea) or perhaps even a hendiatris (three separate terms denoting one idea) for “the light of the moon and stars” (e.g., Gen 1:14).
17 tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return”) here denotes “to desist” (HALOT 1430 s.v. שׁוּב 3). It pictures the disappearance of the clouds as a result of the precipitation of their contents.