Pengkhotbah 6:9
Konteks6:9 It is better to be content with 1 what the eyes can see 2
than for one’s heart always to crave more. 3
This continual longing 4 is futile – like 5 chasing the wind.
Pengkhotbah 7:21
Konteks7:21 Also, do not pay attention to everything that people 6 say;
otherwise, 7 you might even hear 8 your servant cursing you.
Pengkhotbah 10:3
Konteks10:3 Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, 9
[6:9] 1 tn The phrase “to be content with” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:9] 2 tn The expression מַרְאֵה עֵינַיִם (mar’eh ’enayim, “the seeing of the eyes”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., seeing an object) for effect (i.e., being content with what the eyes can see); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 552-54.
[6:9] 3 tn Heb “the roaming of the soul.” The expression מֵהֲלָךְ־נָפֶשׁ (mehalakh-nafesh, “the roaming of the soul”) is a metonymy for unfulfilled desires. The term “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) is used as a metonymy of association for man’s desires and appetites (BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 5.c; 6.a). This also involves the personification of the roving appetite as “roving” (מֵהֲלָךְ); see BDB 235 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.f; 232 I.3.
[6:9] 4 tn The phrase “continual longing” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:9] 5 tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
[7:21] 6 tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:21] 7 tn Heb “so that you do not hear…”; or “lest you hear….”
[7:21] 8 tn The imperfect tense verb תִשְׁמַע (tishma’; from שָׁמַע [shama’, “to hear”]) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility: “you might hear” (see IBHS 508 §31.4e).
[10:3] 9 tn Heb “he lacks his heart.”
[10:3] 10 tn Heb “he tells everyone.”
[10:3] 11 sn A fool’s lack of wisdom is obvious to everyone, even when he is engaged in the simple, ordinary actions of life.
