Yohanes 11:28

11:28 And when she had said this, Martha ¹  went and called her sister Mary, saying privately, ²  “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.” ³ 

Matius 7:21-22

Judgment of Pretenders

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ ⁴  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ⁵  many powerful deeds?’

Matius 23:8-10

23:8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 23:9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 23:10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. ⁶ 

Lukas 6:46

6:46 “Why ⁷  do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ ⁸  and don’t do what I tell you? ⁹ 

Roma 14:8-9

14:8 If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 14:9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

Roma 14:1

Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance

14:1 Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. ¹⁰ 

Kolose 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ¹¹  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ¹²  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Kolose 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ¹³  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

Filipi 2:11

2:11 and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord

to the glory of God the Father.

Filipi 3:8

3:8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things – indeed, I regard them as dung! ¹⁴  – that I may gain Christ,

Filipi 3:2

3:2 Beware of the dogs, ¹⁵  beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! ¹⁶ 

Pengkhotbah 1:14-16

1:14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man ¹⁷  on earth, ¹⁸ 

and I concluded: Everything ¹⁹  he has accomplished ²⁰  is futile ²¹  – like chasing the wind! ²² 

1:15 What is bent ²³  cannot be straightened, ²⁴ 

and what is missing ²⁵  cannot be supplied. ²⁶ 

Futility of Secular Wisdom

1:16 I thought to myself, ²⁷ 

“I have become much wiser ²⁸  than any of my predecessors who ruled ²⁹  over Jerusalem; ³⁰ 

I ³¹  have acquired much wisdom and knowledge.” ³² 

[11:28]  ¹ tn Grk “she”; the referent (Martha) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:28]  ² tn Or “in secret” (as opposed to publicly, so that the other mourners did not hear).

[11:28]  ³ tn Grk “is calling you.”

[7:21]  ⁴ sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[7:22]  ⁵ tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[23:10]  ⁶ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:10]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[6:46]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:46]  ⁸ tn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[6:46]  ⁹ sn Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I tell you? Respect is not a matter of mere words, but is reflected in obedient action. This short saying, which is much simpler than its more developed conceptual parallel in Matt 7:21-23, serves in this form to simply warn and issue a call to hear and obey, as the last parable also does in vv. 47-49.

[14:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “over opinions.” The qualifier “differing” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

[1:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ¹² tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[1:3]  ¹³ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).

[3:8]  ¹⁴ tn The word here translated “dung” was often used in Greek as a vulgar term for fecal matter. As such it would most likely have had a certain shock value for the readers. This may well be Paul’s meaning here, especially since the context is about what the flesh produces.

[3:2]  ¹⁵ sn Dogs is a figurative reference to false teachers whom Paul regards as just as filthy as dogs.

[3:2]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “beware of the mutilation.”

[1:14]  ¹⁷ tn The phrase “by man” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[1:14]  ¹⁹ tn As mentioned in the note on “everything” in 1:2, the term הַכֹּל (hakkol, “everything”) is often limited in reference to the specific topic at hand in the context (e.g., BDB 482 s.v. כֹּל 2). The argument of 1:12-15, like 1:3-11, focuses on secular human achievement. This is clear from the repetition of the root עָשַׂה (’asah, “do, work, accomplish, achieve”) in 1:12-13.

[1:14]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “he has accomplished” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:14]  ²¹ tn This usage of הֶבֶל (hevel) denotes “futile, profitless, fruitless” (e.g., 2 Kgs 17:15; Ps 78:33; Prov 13:11; 21:6; Eccl 1:2, 14; 2:1, 14-15; 4:8; Jer 2:5; 10:3; Lam 4:17; see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הֶבֶל). The term is used with the simile “like striving after the wind” (רְעוּת רוּחַ, rÿ’ut ruakh) – a graphic picture of an expenditure of effort in vain because no one can catch the wind by chasing it (e.g., 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16; 6:9; 7:14). When used in this sense, the term is often used with the following synonyms: לְתֹהוּ (lÿtohu, “for nothing, in vain, for no reason”; Isa 49:4); רִיק (riq, “profitless; useless”; Isa 30:7; Eccl 6:11); לֹא הוֹעִיל (“worthless, profitless”; Is 30:6; 57:12; Jer 16:19); “what profit?” (מַה־יִּתְרוֹןֹ, mah-yyitron); and “no profit” (אֵין יִּתְרוֹן, en yyitron; e.g., 2:11; 3:19; 6:9). It is also used in antithesis to terms connoting value: טוֹב (tov, “good, benefit, advantage”) and יֹתְרוֹן (yotÿron, “profit, advantage, gain”). Despite everything that man has accomplished in history, it is ultimately futile because nothing on earth really changes.

[1:14]  ²² tn Heb “striving of wind.” The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it has been added in the translation to make the comparative notion clear.

[1:15]  ²³ tn The term מְעֻוָּת, mÿ’uvvat (Pual participle masculine singular from עָוַת, ’avat, “to bend”) is used substantively (“what is bent; what is crooked”) in reference to irregularities in life and obstacles to human secular achievement accomplishing anything of ultimate value.

[1:15]  ²⁴ tn A parallel statement occurs in 7:13 which employs the active form of עָוַת, (’avat, “to bend”) with God as the subject: “Who is able to strengthen what God bends?” The passive form occurs here: “No one is able to straighten what is bent” (מְעֻוָּת לֹא־יוּכַל לֹתְקֹן, mÿ’uvvat lo’-yukhal lotÿqon). In the light of 7:13, the personal agent of the passive form is God.

[1:15]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew noun חֶסְרוֹן (khesron) is used in the OT only here and means “what is lacking” (as an antonym to יִתְרוֹן [yitron], “what is profitable”; HALOT 339 s.v. חֶסְרוֹן; BDB 341 s.v. חֶסְרוֹן). It is an Aramaic loanword meaning “deficit.” The related verb חָסַר (khasar) means “to lack, to be in need of, to decrease, to lessen [in number]”; the related noun חֹסֶר (khoser) refers to “one in want of”; and the noun חֶסֶר (kheser) means “poverty, want” (HALOT 338 s.v. חֶסֶר; BDB 341 s.v. חֶסֶר). It refers to what is absent (zero in terms of quantity) rather than what is deficient (poor in terms of quality). The LXX misunderstood the term and rendered it as ὑστέρημα (usterhma, “deficiency”): “deficiency cannot be numbered.” It is also misunderstood by a few English versions: “nor can you count up the defects in life” (Moffatt); “the number of fools is infinite” (Douay). However, most English versions correctly understand it as referring to what is lacking in terms of quantity: “what is lacking” (RSV, MLB, NASB, NIV, NRSV), “a lack” (NJPS), “that which is wanting” (KJV, ASV), “what is not there” (NEB), and “what is missing” (NAB).

[1:15]  ²⁶ tn Heb “cannot be counted” or “cannot be numbered.” The term הִמָּנוֹת (himmanot, Niphal infinitive construct from מָנָה, manah, “to count”) is rendered literally by most translations: “[cannot] be counted” or “[cannot] be numbered” (KJV, ASV, RSV, MLB, NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, JPS, NJPS). However, the nuance “count” might function as a metonymy of effect for cause, that is, “to supply.” What is absent cannot be supplied (cause) therefore, it cannot be counted as present (effect). NAB adopts this approach: “what is missing cannot be supplied.”

[1:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I spoke, I, with my heart.”

[1:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I, look, I have made great and increased wisdom.” The expression הִגְדַּלְתִּי וְהוֹסַפְתִּי (higdalti vÿhosafti) is a verbal hendiadys; it means that Qoheleth had become the wisest man in the history of Jerusalem.

[1:16]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “who ruled” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:16]  ³⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “my heart” (לִבִּי, libbi). The term “heart” is a metonymy of part for the whole (“my heart” = myself).

[1:16]  ³² tn Heb “My heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.”