1 Korintus 1:11

1:11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, ¹  that there are quarrels ²  among you.

1 Korintus 3:3-4

3:3 for you are still influenced by the flesh. ³  For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people? ⁴  3:4 For whenever someone says, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” are you not merely human? ⁵ 

1 Korintus 4:6-8

4:6 I have applied these things to myself and Apollos because of you, brothers and sisters, ⁶  so that through us you may learn “not to go beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of the one against the other. 4:7 For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not? 4:8 Already you are satisfied! Already you are rich! You have become kings without us! I wish you had become kings so that we could reign with you!

1 Korintus 4:18

4:18 Some have become arrogant, ⁷  as if I were not coming to you.

1 Korintus 6:7-8

6:7 The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 6:8 But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters! ⁸ 

1 Korintus 11:16-19

11:16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.

The Lord’s Supper

11:17 Now in giving the following instruction I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. 11:18 For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 11:19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. ⁹ 

1 Korintus 14:36-37

14:36 Did the word of God begin with you, ¹⁰  or did it come to you alone?

14:37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.

Galatia 5:15

5:15 However, if you continually bite and devour one another, ¹¹  beware that you are not consumed ¹²  by one another.

Galatia 5:19-21

5:19 Now the works of the flesh ¹³  are obvious: ¹⁴  sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, ¹⁵  hostilities, ¹⁶  strife, ¹⁷  jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, ¹⁸  factions, 5:21 envying, ¹⁹  murder, ²⁰  drunkenness, carousing, ²¹  and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Galatia 5:26

5:26 Let us not become conceited, ²²  provoking ²³  one another, being jealous ²⁴  of one another.

Efesus 4:31-32

4:31 You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. 4:32 Instead, ²⁵  be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you. ²⁶ 

Yakobus 3:14-16

3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. 3:15 Such ²⁷  wisdom does not come ²⁸  from above but is earthly, natural, ²⁹  demonic. 3:16 For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice.

Yakobus 4:1-5

Passions and Pride

4:1 Where do the conflicts and where ³⁰  do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, ³¹  from your passions that battle inside you? ³²  4:2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 4:3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.

4:4 Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? ³³  So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. 4:5 Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, ³⁴  “The spirit that God ³⁵  caused ³⁶  to live within us has an envious yearning”? ³⁷ 

Yakobus 4:1

Passions and Pride

4:1 Where do the conflicts and where ³⁸  do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, ³⁹  from your passions that battle inside you? ⁴⁰ 

Pengkhotbah 2:1

Futility of Self-Indulgent Pleasure

I thought to myself, ⁴¹ 

2:1 “Come now, ⁴²  I will try ⁴³  self-indulgent pleasure ⁴⁴  to see ⁴⁵  if it is worthwhile.” ⁴⁶ 

But I found ⁴⁷  that it also is futile. ⁴⁸ 

[1:11]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[1:11]  ² tn Or “rivalries, disputes.”

[3:3]  ³ tn Or “are still merely human”; Grk “fleshly.” Cf. BDAG 914 s.v. σαρκικός 2, “pert. to being human at a disappointing level of behavior or characteristics, (merely) human.” The same phrase occurs again later in this verse.

[3:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “and walking in accordance with man,” i.e., living like (fallen) humanity without the Spirit’s influence; hence, “unregenerate people.”

[3:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “are you not men,” i.e., (fallen) humanity without the Spirit’s influence. Here Paul does not say “walking in accordance with” as in the previous verse; he actually states the Corinthians are this. However, this is almost certainly rhetorical hyperbole.

[4:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[4:18]  ⁷ tn Grk “puffed up”; “inflated.”

[6:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” The Greek term “brother” literally refers to family relationships, but here it is used in a broader sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a). See also the note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[11:19]  ⁹ tn Grk “those approved may be evident among you.”

[14:36]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Did the word of God go out from you.”

[5:15]  ¹¹ tn That is, “if you are harming and exploiting one another.” Paul’s metaphors are retained in most modern translations, but it is possible to see the meanings of δάκνω and κατεσθίω (daknw and katesqiw, L&N 20.26 and 88.145) as figurative extensions of the literal meanings of these terms and to translate them accordingly. The present tenses here are translated as customary presents (“continually…”).

[5:15]  ¹² tn Or “destroyed.”

[5:19]  ¹³ tn See the note on the word “flesh” in Gal 5:13.

[5:19]  ¹⁴ tn Or “clear,” “evident.”

[5:20]  ¹⁵ tn Or “witchcraft.”

[5:20]  ¹⁶ tn Or “enmities,” “[acts of] hatred.”

[5:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or “discord” (L&N 39.22).

[5:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “discord(s)” (L&N 39.13).

[5:21]  ¹⁹ tn This term is plural in Greek (as is “murder” and “carousing”), but for clarity these abstract nouns have been translated as singular.

[5:21]  ²⁰ tc ‡ φόνοι (fonoi, “murders”) is absent in such important mss as Ì⁴⁶ א B 33 81 323 945 pc sa, while the majority of mss (A C D F G Ψ 0122 0278 1739 1881 Ï lat) have the word. Although the pedigree of the mss which lack the term is of the highest degree, homoioteleuton may well explain the shorter reading. The preceding word has merely one letter difference, making it quite possible to overlook this term (φθόνοι φόνοι, fqonoi fonoi).

[5:21]  ²¹ tn Or “revelings,” “orgies” (L&N 88.287).

[5:26]  ²² tn Or “falsely proud.”

[5:26]  ²³ tn Or “irritating.” BDAG 871 s.v. προκαλέω has “provoke, challenge τινά someone.”

[5:26]  ²⁴ tn Or “another, envying one another.”

[4:32]  ²⁵ tc ‡ Although most witnesses have either δέ (de; Ì⁴⁹ א A D² Ψ 33 1739^mg Ï lat) or οὖν (oun; D* F G 1175) here, a few important mss lack a conjunction (Ì⁴⁶ B 0278 6 1739* 1881). If either conjunction were originally in the text, it is difficult to explain how the asyndetic construction could have arisen (although the dropping of δέ could have occurred via homoioteleuton). Further, although Hellenistic Greek rarely joined sentences without a conjunction, such does occur in the corpus Paulinum on occasion, especially to underscore a somber point. “Instead” has been supplied in the translation because of stylistic requirements, not textual basis. NA²⁷ places δέ in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[4:32]  ²⁶ tn Or “forgiving.”

[3:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “This.”

[3:15]  ²⁸ tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”

[3:15]  ²⁹ tn Grk “soulish,” which describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 19.

[4:1]  ³⁰ tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.

[4:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “from here.”

[4:1]  ³² tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”

[4:4]  ³³ tn Grk “is hostility toward God.”

[4:5]  ³⁴ tn Grk “vainly says.”

[4:5]  ³⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:5]  ³⁶ tc The Byzantine text and a few other mss (P 33 Ï) have the intransitive κατῴκησεν (katwkhsen) here, which turns τὸ πνεῦμα (to pneuma) into the subject of the verb: “The spirit which lives within us.” But the more reliable and older witnesses (Ì⁷⁴ א B Ψ 049 1241 1739 al) have the causative verb, κατῴκισεν (katwkisen), which implies a different subject and τὸ πνεῦμα as the object: “The spirit that he causes to live within us.” Both because of the absence of an explicit subject and the relative scarcity of the causative κατοικίζω (katoikizw, “cause to dwell”) compared to the intransitive κατοικέω (katoikew, “live, dwell”) in biblical Greek (κατοικίζω does not occur in the NT at all, and occurs one twelfth as frequently as κατοικέω in the LXX), it is easy to see why scribes would replace κατῴκισεν with κατῴκησεν. Thus, on internal and external grounds, κατῴκισεν is the preferred reading.

[4:5]  ³⁷ tn Interpreters debate the referent of the word “spirit” in this verse: (1) The translation takes “spirit” to be the lustful capacity within people that produces a divided mind (1:8, 14) and inward conflicts regarding God (4:1-4). God has allowed it to be in man since the fall, and he provides his grace (v. 6) and the new birth through the gospel message (1:18-25) to counteract its evil effects. (2) On the other hand the word “spirit” may be taken positively as the Holy Spirit and the sense would be, “God yearns jealously for the Spirit he caused to live within us.” But the word for “envious” or “jealous” is generally negative in biblical usage and the context before and after seems to favor the negative interpretation.

[4:5]  sn No OT verse is worded exactly this way. This is either a statement about the general teaching of scripture or a quotation from an ancient translation of the Hebrew text that no longer exists today.

[4:1]  ³⁸ tn The word “where” is repeated in Greek for emphasis.

[4:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “from here.”

[4:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “in your members [i.e., parts of the body].”

[2:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “I said, I, in my heart” (אָמַרְתִּי אֲנִי בְּלִבִּי, ’amarti ’ani bÿlibbi). The term “heart” (לֵב, lev) is a synecdoche of part (“heart”) for the whole (the whole person), and thus means “I said to myself” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648).

[2:1]  ⁴² tn The Hebrew verb לְכָה (lÿkhah, “Come!”) is a weakened imperative, used merely as an introductory word, e.g., Gen 19:32; 31:44; Judg 19:11; 1 Sam 9:9-10; 11:14; 2 Kgs 3:7; Ps 66:5; Song 7:12; Isa 1:18; 2:3; Mic 4:2 (HALOT 246 s.v. הָלַךְ 2; BDB 234 s.v. הָלַךְ I.5.f.2). Whenever לְכָה introduces an exhortation, it functions as an invitation to the audience to adopt a course of action that will be beneficial to the addressee or mutually beneficial to both the speaker and the addressee. Here, Qoheleth personifies his “heart” (לִבִּי, libbi) and addresses himself. The examination of self-indulgent pleasure is designed to be beneficial to Qoheleth.

[2:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “test.” The cohortative אֲנַסְּכָה (’anassÿkhah) emphasizes the resolve of the speaker. The term נָסַה (nasah, “to test”) means “to conduct a test,” that is, to conduct an experiment (Judg 6:39; Eccl 2:1; 7:23; Dan 1:12, 14; see HALOT 702 s.v. נסה 3; BDB 650 s.v. נָסָה 1). The verb נָסַה is often used as a synonym with בָּחַן (bakhan, “to examine”; BDB 103 s.v. בָּחַן and 650 s.v. נָסָה 1) and לָדַעַת (lada’at, “to ascertain”; Deut 8:2).

[2:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “I will test you with pleasure.” The term שִׂמְחַה (simkhah, “pleasure”) has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) it can refer to the legitimate enjoyment of life that Qoheleth affirms is good (5:17; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8, 9) and that God gives to those who please him (2:26; 5:19); or (2) it can refer to foolish pleasure, self-indulgent, frivolous merrymaking (2:1, 2; 7:4). The parallelism in 2:2 between שִׂמְחַה and שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter, frivolous merrymaking”), which always appears in the context of banqueting, drinking, and merrymaking, suggests that the pejorative sense is in view in this context.

[2:1]  sn The statement I will try self-indulgent pleasure is a figurative expression known as metonymy of association. As 2:1-3 makes clear, it is not so much Qoheleth who is put to the test with pleasure, but rather that pleasure is put to the test by Qoheleth.

[2:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “See what is good!” The volitive sequence of the cohortative (אֲנַסְּכָה, ’anassÿkhah, “I will test you”) followed by vav + imperative (וּרְאֵה, urÿ’eh, “and see!”) denotes purpose/result: “I will test you…in order to see….” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “to see”) has a broad range of meanings (e.g., in the Qal stem 16 categories are listed in HALOT 1157–1160 s.v.). In this context it means “to discover; to perceive; to discern; to understand” (HALOT 1159 s.v. ראה 13; BDB 907 s.v. רָאָה 5).

[2:1]  ⁴⁶ sn The phrase “to see what is good” (רָאָה, ra’ah, “to see” + טוֹב, tov, “good”) is repeated twice in 2:1-3. This is the key phrase in this section of Ecclesiastes. Qoheleth sought to discover (רָאָה) whether merry-making offered any value (טוֹב) to mankind.

[2:1]  ⁴⁷ tn The particle וְהִנֵּה (vÿhinneh, literally “Behold!”) occurs after verbs of perception to introduce what was seen, understood or discovered (HALOT 252 s.v. הִנֵּה 8). It is used to make the narrative graphic and vivid, enabling the reader to enter into the surprise of the speaker (BDB 244 s.v. הִנֵּה c). This is an example of the heterosis of the deictic particle (“Behold!”) for a verb of perception (“I found”). See E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 510-34.

[2:1]  ⁴⁸ tn This use of הֶבֶל (hevel) denotes “futile, worthless, fruitless, pointless” (HALOT 237 s.v. I הֶבֶל 2; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הֶבֶל 2). It is a synonym to מְהוֹלָל (mÿholal, “folly”) in 2:2a and an antonym to טוֹב (tov, “worthwhile, beneficial”) in 2:1b and 2:3c.