1 Raja-raja 22:24

22:24 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached, hit Micaiah on the jaw, and said, “Which way did the Lord’s spirit go when he went from me to speak to you?”

Ayub 16:10

16:10 People ¹  have opened their mouths against me,

they have struck my cheek in scorn; ² 

they unite ³  together against me.

Yesaya 50:6

50:6 I offered my back to those who attacked, ⁴ 

my jaws to those who tore out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from insults and spitting.

Ratapan 3:30

3:30 Let him offer his cheek to the one who hits him; ⁵ 

let him have his fill of insults.

Mikha 5:1

5:1 (4:14) ⁶  But now slash yourself, ⁷  daughter surrounded by soldiers! ⁸ 

We are besieged!

With a scepter ⁹  they strike Israel’s ruler ¹⁰ 

on the side of his face.

Lukas 6:29

6:29 To the person who strikes you on the cheek, ¹¹  offer the other as well, ¹²  and from the person who takes away your coat, ¹³  do not withhold your tunic ¹⁴  either. ¹⁵ 

Lukas 22:64

22:64 They ¹⁶  blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, ¹⁷  “Prophesy! Who hit you?” ¹⁸ 

Lukas 22:1

Judas’ Decision to Betray Jesus

22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, ¹⁹  which is called the Passover, was approaching.

Pengkhotbah 2:20-23

2:20 So I began to despair ²⁰  about all the fruit of ²¹  my labor ²² 

for which I worked so hard ²³  on earth. ²⁴ 

2:21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill;

however, he must hand over ²⁵  the fruit of his labor ²⁶  as an inheritance ²⁷ 

to someone else who did not work for it.

This also is futile, and an awful injustice! ²⁸ 

Painful Days and Restless Nights

2:22 What does a man acquire from all his labor

and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth? ²⁹ 

2:23 For all day long ³⁰  his work produces pain and frustration, ³¹ 

and even at night his mind cannot relax! ³² 

This also is futile!

[16:10]  ¹ tn “People” is supplied; the Hebrew verb is third plural. The colon reads, “they have opened against me with [the preposition is instrumental] their mouth.” The gestures here follow the animal imagery; they reflect destructive opposition and attack (see Ps 22:13 among others).

[16:10]  ² tn This is an “insult” or a “reproach.”

[16:10]  ³ tn The verb יִתְמַלָּאוּן (yitmalla’un) is taken from מָלֵא (male’), “to be full,” and in this stem, “to pile up; to press together.” The term has a military connotation, such as “to mobilize” (see D. W. Thomas, “ml'w in Jeremiah 4:5 : a military term,” JJS 3 [1952]: 47-52). Job sees himself surrounded by enemies who persecute him and mock him.

[50:6]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps, “who beat [me].”

[3:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “to the smiter.”

[5:1]  ⁶ sn Beginning with 5:1, the verse numbers through 5:15 in the English Bible differ by one from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 5:1 ET = 4:14 HT, 5:2 ET = 5:1 HT, 5:3 ET = 5:2 HT, etc., through 5:15 ET = 5:14 HT. From 6:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[5:1]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb גָדַד (gadad) can be translated “slash yourself” or “gather in troops.” A number of English translations are based on the latter meaning (e.g., NASB, NIV, NLT).

[5:1]  sn Slash yourself. Slashing one’s body was a form of mourning. See Deut 14:1; 1 Kgs 18:28; Jer 16:6; 41:5; 47:5.

[5:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “daughter of a troop of warriors.”

[5:1]  sn The daughter surrounded by soldiers is an image of the city of Jerusalem under siege (note the address “Daughter Jerusalem” in 4:8).

[5:1]  ⁹ tn Or “staff”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “rod”; CEV “stick”; NCV “club.”

[5:1]  sn Striking a king with a scepter, a symbol of rulership, would be especially ironic and humiliating.

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “the judge of Israel” (so KJV, NASB).

[6:29]  ¹¹ sn The phrase strikes you on the cheek probably pictures public rejection, like the act that indicated expulsion from the synagogue.

[6:29]  ¹² sn This command to offer the other cheek as well is often misunderstood. It means that there is risk involved in reaching out to people with God’s hope. But if one is struck down in rejection, the disciple is to continue reaching out.

[6:29]  ¹³ tn Or “cloak.”

[6:29]  ¹⁴ tn See the note on the word “tunics” in 3:11.

[6:29]  ¹⁵ sn The command do not withhold your tunic either is again an image of continually being totally at risk as one tries to keep contact with those who are hostile to what Jesus and his disciples offer.

[22:64]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:64]  ¹⁷ tn The verb ἐπηρώτων (ephrwtwn) has been translated as an iterative imperfect. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

[22:64]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”

[22:64]  sn Who hit you? This is a variation of one of three ancient games that involved blindfolds.

[22:1]  ¹⁹ sn The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week long celebration that followed the day of Passover, so one name was used for both feasts (Exod 12:1-20; 23:15; 34:18; Deut 16:1-8).

[2:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I turned aside to allow my heart despair.” The term לִבִּי (libbi, “my heart”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., heart) for the whole (i.e., whole person); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648.

[2:20]  ²¹ tn The phrase “the fruit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “labor”).

[2:20]  ²² tn Heb “all my toil.” As in 2:18-19, the term עֲמָלִי (’amali, “my labor”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., my labor) for effect (i.e., the fruit of my labor). The metonymy is recognized by several translations: “all the fruits of my labor” (NAB); “all the fruit of my labor” (NASB); “all the gains I had made” (NJPS).

[2:20]  ²³ tn Here the author uses an internal cognate accusative construction (accusative noun and verb from the same root) for emphasis: שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי הֶעָמָל (he’amal she’amalti, “the toil for which I had toiled”); see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g.

[2:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[2:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he must give.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, “to give” + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) refers back to עֲמָלוֹ (’amalo, “his labor”) which is treated in this line as a metonymy of cause for effect, that is, “he must give it” = “he must give his labor” = “he must give the fruit of his labor.”

[2:21]  sn As in 2:18-19, Qoheleth laments the injustice that a person who works diligently in wisdom must one day hand over the fruit of his labor (i.e., his fortune and the care of his achievements) to his successor. There is no guarantee that one’s heir will be wise and be a good steward of this wealth, or be foolish and squander it – in which case, the former man’s entire life’s work would be in vain.

[2:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (“the fruit of his labor”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “he must turn over an inheritance”; or “he must turn it over, namely, an inheritance.” There are two approaches to the syntax of חֶלְקוֹ (khelqo, “his inheritance”): (1) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is a subjective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which he must give to his heir. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is Qoheleth in 2:21a who worked hard to amass the fortune. The noun חֵלֶק (kheleq, “inheritance”) functions as an adverbial accusative of state (GKC 372 §118.a) or a predicate accusative (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57): “He must give it [i.e., his fortune] as an inheritance.” (2) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is an objective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which the heir will receive from Qoheleth. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is the heir in 2:21b. The noun חֵלֶק (“inheritance”) functions as the accusative direct object in apposition (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 15-16, §71) to the 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, “he must give it”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, + 3rd person masculine singular suffix): “He must give it, namely, his inheritance, to one who did not work for it.”

[2:21]  ²⁸ tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice; wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b). The phrase רָעָה רַבָּה (ra’ah rabbah) connotes “grave injustice” or “great misfortune” (e.g., Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5). It is expressed well as: “This too is…a great misfortune” (NAB, NIV, MLB) and “utterly wrong!” (NEB).

[2:21]  sn Verses 18-21 are arranged into two sub-units (2:18-19 and 2:20-21). Each contains a parallel structure: (1) Introductory lament: “I hated all my toil” and “I began to despair about all my toil.” (2) Reason for the lament: “I must turn over the fruit of my labor to the hands of my successor” and “he must hand over the fruit of his work as an inheritance.” (3) Description of successor: “who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?” and “he did not work for it.” (4) Concluding statement: “This also is fruitless!” and “This also is profitless and an awful injustice!”

[2:22]  ²⁹ tn Heb “under the sun.” The rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “Man acquires nothing” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51).

[2:23]  ³⁰ tn Heb “all his days.”

[2:23]  ³¹ tn The syntax of this verse has been interpreted in two different ways: (1) The phrase “all his days” (כָל־יָמָיו, khol-yamayv) is the subject of a verbless clause, and the noun “pain” (מַכְאֹבִים, makh’ovim) is a predicate nominative or a predicate of apposition (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 15-16, §71). Likewise, the noun “his work” (עִנְיָנוֹ, ’inyano) is the subject of a second verbless clause, and the vexation” (כַעַס, kha’as) is a predicate nominative: “All his days are pain, and his work is vexation.” (2) The noun “his work” (עִנְיָנוֹ) is the subject of both nouns, “pain and vexation” (וָכַעַס מַכְאֹבִים, makh’ovim vakha’as), which are predicate nominatives, while the phrase “all his days” (כָל־יָמָיו) is an adverbial accusative functioning temporally: “All day long, his work is pain and vexation.” The latter option is supported by the parallelism between “even at night” and “all day long.” This verse draws out an ironic contrast/comparison between his physical toil/labor during the day and his emotional anxiety at night. Even at night, he has no break!

[2:23]  ³² tn Heb “his heart (i.e., mind) does not rest.”