Pengkhotbah 1:16
Konteks“I have become much wiser 2 than any of my predecessors who ruled 3 over Jerusalem; 4
I 5 have acquired much wisdom and knowledge.” 6
Pengkhotbah 8:17
Konteks8:17 then I discerned all that God has done: 7
No one really comprehends what happens 8 on earth. 9
Despite all human 10 efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp 11 it. 12
[1:16] 1 tn Heb “I spoke, I, with my heart.”
[1:16] 2 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] 3 tn The phrase “who ruled” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[1:16] 4 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:16] 5 tn Heb “my heart” (לִבִּי, libbi). The term “heart” is a metonymy of part for the whole (“my heart” = myself).
[1:16] 6 tn Heb “My heart has seen much wisdom and knowledge.”
[8:17] 7 tn Heb “all the work of God.”
[8:17] 8 tn Heb “the work that is done.”
[8:17] 9 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[8:17] 10 tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.
[8:17] 12 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[8:17] 13 tn The particle אִם (’im, “even if”) introduces the protasis in a real conditional clause (“If a wise man …”); see IBHS 636-37 §38.2d; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 74, §453.
[8:17] 14 tn The imperfect tense verb יֹאמַר (yo’mar, “to say”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility (see IBHS 508 §31.4e; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31, §169).
[8:17] 15 tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”
[8:17] 16 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is an implied direct object and has been supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.
