Pengkhotbah 6:2
Konteks6:2 God gives a man riches, property, and wealth
so that he lacks nothing that his heart 1 desires, 2
yet God does not enable 3 him to enjoy 4 the fruit of his labor 5 –
instead, someone else 6 enjoys 7 it! 8
This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. 9
Pengkhotbah 8:17
Konteks8:17 then I discerned all that God has done: 10
No one really comprehends what happens 11 on earth. 12
Despite all human 13 efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp 14 it. 15
[6:2] 1 tn Heb “his appetite.”
[6:2] 2 tn Heb “There is no lack in respect to his appetite”; or “his desire lacks nothing.”
[6:2] 3 tn The verb שָׁלַט (shalat) in the Qal stem means “to domineer; to dominate; to lord it over; to be master of” and in the Hiphil stem “to give power to” (BDB 1020 s.v. שָׁלַט) and “to grant” (HALOT 1522 s.v. שׁלט). God must grant a person the ability to enjoy the fruit of his labor, otherwise a person will not be able to enjoy his possessions and wealth. The ability to partake of the fruit of one’s labor and to find satisfaction and joy in it is a gift from God (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:13; 5:18 [19]; 9:7).
[6:2] 4 tn Heb “to eat of it.” The verb אָכַל (’akhal, “to eat”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, the action of eating is associated with the enjoyment of the fruit of one’s labor (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22; 5:17-19; 8:15; 9:9).
[6:2] 5 tn The phrase “the fruit of his labor” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[6:2] 6 tn Heb “a stranger.” The Hebrew expression אִיש נָכְרִי (’ish nokhri, “stranger”) sometimes refers not to a foreigner or someone that the person does not know, but simply to someone else other than the subject (e.g., Prov 27:2). In the light of 6:3-6, it might even refer to the man’s own heirs. The term is used as a synecdoche of species (foreigner for stranger) in the sense of someone else other than the subject: “someone else” (BDB 649 s.v. נָכְרִי 3).
[6:2] 8 sn Instead, someone else enjoys it. A person may be unable to enjoy the fruit of his/her labor due to an unfortunate turn of events that robs a person of his possessions (5:13-14) or a miserly, lifelong hoarding of one’s wealth that robs him of the ability to enjoy what he has worked so hard to acquire (5:15-17). Qoheleth recommends the enjoyment of life and the fruit of one’s labor, as God enables (5:18-20). Unfortunately, the ability to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor is often thwarted by the obstacles described in 6:1-2 and 6:3-9.
[6:2] 9 tn Heb “an evil sickness.”
[8:17] 10 tn Heb “all the work of God.”
[8:17] 11 tn Heb “the work that is done.”
[8:17] 12 tn Heb “under the sun.”
[8:17] 13 tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.
[8:17] 15 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
[8:17] 16 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] 17 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] 18 tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”
[8:17] 19 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.