Pengkhotbah 1:9

1:9 What exists now ¹  is what will be, ² 

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing truly new on earth. ³ 

Pengkhotbah 2:14

2:14 The wise man can see where he is going, ⁴  but the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I also realized that the same fate ⁵  happens to them both. ⁶ 

Pengkhotbah 8:5

8:5 Whoever obeys his ⁷  command will not experience harm,

and a wise person ⁸  knows the proper time ⁹  and procedure.

Pengkhotbah 12:14

12:14 For God will evaluate every deed, ¹⁰ 

including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

[1:9]  ¹ tn Heb “what is.” The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect. Another option is to translate, “What has been.” See the next line, which speaks of the past and the future.

[1:9]  ² tn The Hebrew verbal form is an imperfect.

[1:9]  ³ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[2:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “has his eyes in his head.” The term עַיִן (’ayin, “eye”) is used figuratively in reference to mental and spiritual faculties (BDB 744 s.v. עַיִן 3.a). The term “eye” is a metonymy of cause (eye) for effect (sight and perception).

[2:14]  ⁵ sn The common fate to which Qoheleth refers is death.

[2:14]  ⁶ tn The term כֻּלָּם (kullam, “all of them”) denotes “both of them.” This is an example of synecdoche of general (“all of them”) for the specific (“both of them,” that is, both the wise man and the fool).

[8:5]  ⁷ tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.

[8:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “the heart of a wise man.”

[8:5]  ⁹ tn The term עֵת (’et, “time”) connotes “a proper, suitable time for an event; the right moment” (HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6; BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.b); e.g., “it was the time for rain” (Ezra 10:13); “a time of judgment for the nations” (Ezek 30:3); “there is an appropriate time for every occasion” (Eccl 3:1); “the time when mountain goats are born” (Job 39:1); “the rain in its season” (Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24); “the time for the harvest” (Hos 2:11; Ps 1:3); “food in its season” (Ps 104:27).

[12:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “will bring every deed into judgment.”