Pengkhotbah 2:14

2:14 The wise man can see where he is going, ¹  but the fool walks in darkness.

Yet I also realized that the same fate ²  happens to them both. ³ 

Pengkhotbah 3:12

Enjoy Life in the Present

3:12 I have concluded ⁴  that there is nothing better for people ⁵ 

than ⁶  to be happy and to enjoy

themselves ⁷  as long as they live,

Pengkhotbah 4:11

4:11 Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm,

but how can one person keep warm by himself?

Pengkhotbah 7:28

7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;

I have found only ⁸  one upright ⁹  man among a thousand,

but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

[2:14]  ¹ 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]  ² sn The common fate to which Qoheleth refers is death.

[2:14]  ³ 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).

[3:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “I know.”

[3:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “for them”; the referent (people, i.e., mankind) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:12]  ⁶ tn Qoheleth uses the exceptive particle אִם…כִּי (ki…’im, “except”) to identify the only exception to the futility within man’s life (BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 2).

[3:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “to do good.” The phrase לַעֲשׂוֹת טוֹב (la’asot tov) functions idiomatically for “to experience [or see] happiness [or joy].” The verb עָשַׂה (’asah) probably denotes “to acquire; to obtain” (BDB 795 s.v. עָשַׂה II.7), and טוֹב (tov) means “good; pleasure; happiness,” e.g., Eccl 2:24; 3:13; 5:17 (BDB 375 s.v. טוֹב 1).

[7:28]  ⁸ tn The word “only” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

[7:28]  ⁹ tn The word “upright” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation twice, here and in the following line, for clarity.