1 Timotius 6:10

6:10 For the love of money is the root ¹  of all evils. ²  Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.

1 Timotius 6:2

6:2 But those who have believing masters must not show them less respect ³  because they are brothers. Instead they are to serve all the more, because those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved. ⁴ 

Summary of Timothy’s Duties

Teach them and exhort them about these things. ⁵ 

Pengkhotbah 2:15

2:15 So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! ⁶ 

Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively ⁷  wise?” ⁸ 

So I lamented to myself, ⁹ 

“The benefits of wisdom ¹⁰  are ultimately ¹¹  meaningless!”

[6:10]  ¹ tn This could be taken to mean “a root,” but the phrase “of all evils” clearly makes it definite. This seems to be not entirely true to life (some evils are unrelated to love of money), but it should be read as a case of hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point more strongly).

[6:10]  ² tn Many translations render this “of all kinds of evil,” especially to allow for the translation “a root” along with it. But there is no parallel for taking a construction like this to mean “all kinds of” or “every kind of.” The normal sense is “all evils.”

[6:2]  ³ tn Or “think the less of them”; Grk “despise them,” “look down on them.”

[6:2]  ⁴ tn Or “those who devote themselves to service are faithful and dearly loved” (referring to slaves who serve them).

[6:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “these things teach and exhort.”

[2:15]  ⁶ tn The emphatic use of the 1st person common singular personal pronoun אֲנִי (’ani, “me”) with the emphatic particle of association גַּם (gam, “even, as well as”; HALOT 195–96 s.v. גַּם) appears to emphasize the 1st person common singular suffix on יִקְרֵנִי (yiqreni) “it will befall [or “happen to”] me” (Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular + 1st person common singular suffix from קָרָה, qarah, “to befall; to happen to”); see GKC 438 §135.e. Qoheleth laments not that the fate of the wise man is the same as that of the fool, but that even he himself – the wisest man of all – would fare no better in the end than the most foolish.

[2:15]  ⁷ tn The adjective יוֹתֵר (yoter) means “too much; excessive,” e.g., 7:16 “excessively righteous” (HALOT 404 s.v. יוֹתֵר 2; BDB 452 s.v. יוֹתֵר). It is derived from the root יֶתֶר (yeter, “what is left over”); see HALOT 452 s.v. I יֶתֶר. It is related to the verbal root יתר (Niphal “to be left over”; Hiphil “to have left over”); see HALOT 451–52 s.v. I יתר. The adjective is related to יִתְרוֹן (yitron, “advantage; profit”) which is a key-term in this section, creating a word-play: The wise man has a relative “advantage” (יִתְרוֹן) over the fool (2:13-14a); however, there is no ultimate advantage because both share the same fate, i.e., death (2:14b-15a). Thus, Qoheleth’s acquisition of tremendous wisdom (1:16; 2:9) was “excessive” because it exceeded its relative advantage over folly: it could not deliver him from the same fate as the fool. He had striven to obtain wisdom, yet it held no ultimate advantage.

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “And why was I wise (to) excess?” The rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “I gained nothing!” (E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949).

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “So I said in my heart.”

[2:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and also this,” referring to the relative advantage of wisdom over folly.

[2:15]  ¹¹ tn The word “ultimately” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.