Pengkhotbah 1:8

1:8 All this ¹  monotony ²  is tiresome; no one can bear ³  to describe it: ⁴ 

The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content ⁵  with hearing.

Pengkhotbah 6:12

6:12 For no one knows what is best for a person during his life ⁶  –

during the few days of his fleeting life –

for ⁷  they pass away ⁸  like a shadow.

Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth. ⁹ 

Pengkhotbah 9:3

9:3 This is the unfortunate fact ¹⁰  about everything that happens on earth: ¹¹ 

the same fate awaits ¹²  everyone.

In addition to this, the hearts of all people ¹³  are full of evil,

and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die. ¹⁴ 

Pengkhotbah 9:11

Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events

9:11 Again, ¹⁵  I observed this on the earth: ¹⁶ 

the race is not always ¹⁷  won by the swiftest,

the battle is not always won by the strongest;

prosperity ¹⁸  does not always belong to those who are the wisest,

wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning,

nor does success ¹⁹  always come to those with the most knowledge –

for time and chance may overcome ²⁰  them all.

[1:8]  ¹ tn The word “this” is not in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:8]  ² tn Heb “the things.” The Hebrew term דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, masculine plural noun from דָּבָר, davar) is often used to denote “words,” but it can also refer to actions and events (HALOT 211 s.v. דָּבָר 3.a; BDB 183 s.v. דָּבָר IV.4). Here, it means “things,” as is clear from the context: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (1:9). Here דְּבָרִים can be nuanced “occurrences” or even “[natural] phenomena.”

[1:8]  ³ tn Heb “is able.”

[1:8]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has no stated object. The translation supplies “it” for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[1:8]  sn The statement no one can bear to describe it probably means that Qoheleth could have multiplied examples (beyond the sun, the wind, and the streams) of the endless cycle of futile events in nature. However, no tongue could ever tell, no eye could ever see, no ear could ever hear all the examples of this continual and futile activity.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn The term מָלֵא (male’, “to be filled, to be satisfied”) is repeated in 1:7-8 to draw a comparison between the futility in the cycle of nature and human secular accomplishments: lots of action, but no lasting effects. In 1:7 אֵינֶנּוּ מָלֵא (’enennu male’, “it is never filled”) describes the futility of the water cycle: “All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never filled.” In 1:8 וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵא (vÿlo-timmale’, “it is never satisfied”) describes the futility of human labor: “the ear is never satisfied with hearing.”

[6:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “For who knows what is good for a man in life?” The rhetorical question (“For who knows…?”) is a negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “For no one knows…!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). The translation renders this rhetorical device as a positive affirmation.

[6:12]  ⁷ tn The vav prefixed to וְיַעֲשֵׂם (vÿya’asem, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from עָשַׂה, ’asah, “to do” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) functions in an explanatory or epexegetical sense (“For …”).

[6:12]  ⁸ tn The 3rd person masculine plural suffix on the verb וְיַעֲשֵׂם (vÿya’asem, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from ָָעשַׂה, ’asah, “to do” + 3rd person masculine plural suffix) refers to מִסְפַּר יְמֵי־חַיֵּי הֶבְלוֹ (mispar yÿme-khayye hevlo, “the few days of his fleeting life”). The suffix may be taken as an objective genitive: “he spends them [i.e., the days of his life] like a shadow” (HALOT 891 s.v. I ָָעשַׂה 8) or as a subjective genitive: “they [i.e., the days of his life] pass like a shadow” (BDB 795 s.v. ָָעשַׂה II.11).

[6:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “Who can tell the man what shall be after him under the sun?” The rhetorical question (“For who can tell him…?”) is a negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “For no one can tell him…!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). The translation renders this rhetorical device as a positive affirmation.

[9:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “evil.”

[9:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:3]  ¹² tn The term “awaits” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.

[9:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “also the heart of the sons of man.” Here “heart” is a collective singular.

[9:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and after that [they go] to [the place of] the dead.”

[9:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I returned and.” In the Hebrew idiom, “to return and do” means “to do again.”

[9:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:11]  ¹⁷ tn The term “always” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation (five times in this verse) for clarity.

[9:11]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “bread.”

[9:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “favor.”

[9:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “happen to.”