Amsal 13:10

13:10 With pride ¹  comes only ²  contention,

but wisdom is with the well-advised. ³ 

Amsal 14:29

14:29 The one who is slow to anger has great understanding,

but the one who has a quick temper ⁴  exalts ⁵  folly.

Amsal 15:18

15:18 A quick-tempered person ⁶  stirs up dissension,

but one who is slow to anger ⁷  calms ⁸  a quarrel. ⁹ 

Amsal 16:32

16:32 Better to be slow to anger ¹⁰  than to be a mighty warrior,

and one who controls his temper ¹¹  is better than ¹²  one who captures a city. ¹³ 

Amsal 28:25

28:25 The greedy person ¹⁴  stirs up dissension, ¹⁵ 

but the one who trusts ¹⁶  in the Lord will prosper. ¹⁷ 

Lukas 21:19

21:19 By your endurance ¹⁸  you will gain ¹⁹  your lives. ²⁰ 

Roma 2:7-8

2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ²¹  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ²²  and do not obey the truth but follow ²³  unrighteousness.

Ibrani 10:36

10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. ²⁴ 

Yakobus 5:8

5:8 You also be patient and strengthen your hearts, for the Lord’s return is near.

Yakobus 5:1

Warning to the Rich

5:1 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud ²⁵  over the miseries that are coming on you.

Pengkhotbah 2:20-21

2:20 So I began to despair ²⁶  about all the fruit of ²⁷  my labor ²⁸ 

for which I worked so hard ²⁹  on earth. ³⁰ 

2:21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill;

however, he must hand over ³¹  the fruit of his labor ³²  as an inheritance ³³ 

to someone else who did not work for it.

This also is futile, and an awful injustice! ³⁴ 

Pengkhotbah 5:5-6

5:5 It is better for you not to vow

than to vow and not pay it. ³⁵ 

5:6 Do not let your mouth cause you ³⁶  to sin,

and do not tell the priest, ³⁷  “It was a mistake!” ³⁸ 

Why make God angry at you ³⁹ 

so that he would destroy the work of your hands?”

[13:10]  ¹ sn The parallelism suggests pride here means contempt for the opinions of others. The wise listen to advice rather than argue out of stubborn pride.

[13:10]  ² tn The particle רַק (raq, “only”) modifies the noun “contention” – only contention can come from such a person.

[13:10]  ³ tn The Niphal of יָעַץ (ya’ats, “to advise; to counsel”) means “to consult together; to take counsel.” It means being well-advised, receiving advice or consultation (cf. NCV “those who take advice are wise”).

[14:29]  ⁴ tn Heb “hasty of spirit” (so KJV, ASV); NRSV, NLT “a hasty temper.” One who has a quick temper or a short fuse will be evident to everyone, due to his rash actions.

[14:29]  ⁵ sn The participle “exalts” (מֵרִים, merim) means that this person brings folly to a full measure, lifts it up, brings it to the full notice of everybody.

[15:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man of wrath”; KJV, ASV “a wrathful man.” The term “wrath” functions as an attributive genitive: “an angry person.” He is contrasted with the “slow of anger,” so he is a “quick-tempered person” (cf. NLT “a hothead”).

[15:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “slow of anger.” The noun “anger” functions as a genitive of specification: slow in reference to anger, that is, slow to get angry, patient.

[15:18]  ⁸ tn The Hiphil verb יַשְׁקִיט (yashqit) means “to cause quietness; to pacify; to allay” the strife or quarrel (cf. NAB “allays discord”). This type of person goes out of his way to keep things calm and minimize contention; his opposite thrives on disagreement and dispute.

[15:18]  ⁹ sn The fact that רִיב (riv) is used for “quarrel; strife” strongly implies that the setting is the courtroom or other legal setting (the gates of the city). The hot-headed person is eager to turn every disagreement into a legal case.

[16:32]  ¹⁰ tn One who is “slow to anger” is a patient person (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). This is explained further in the parallel line by the description of “one who rules his spirit” (וּמֹשֵׁל בְּרוּחוֹ, umoshel bÿrukho), meaning “controls his temper.” This means the person has the emotions under control and will not “fly off the handle” quickly.

[16:32]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who rules his spirit” (so NASB).

[16:32]  ¹² tn The phrase “is better than” does not appear in this line in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the parallelism.

[16:32]  ¹³ sn The saying would have had greater impact when military prowess was held in high regard. It is harder, and therefore better, to control one’s passions than to do some great exploit on the battlefield.

[28:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “wide of soul.” This is an idiom meaning “a greedy person.” The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, traditionally, “soul”) has here its more basic meaning of appetites (a person is a soul, a bundle of appetites; BDB 660 s.v. 5.a). It would mean “wide of appetite” (רְהַב־נֶפֶשׁ), thus “greedy.”

[28:25]  ¹⁵ sn Greed “stirs up” the strife. This individual’s attitude and actions stir up dissension because people do not long tolerate him.

[28:25]  ¹⁶ tn The construction uses the participle בּוֹטֵחַ (boteakh) followed by עַל־יְהוָה (’al-yÿhvah), which gives the sense of “relying confidently on the Lord.” This is the antithesis of the greedy person who pushes to get what he desires.

[28:25]  ¹⁷ tn The verb דָּשֵׁן (dashen) means “to be fat,” and in the Piel/Pual stems “to make fat/to be made fat” (cf. KJV, ASV). The idea of being “fat” was symbolic of health and prosperity – the one who trusts in the Lord will be abundantly prosperous and fully gratified (cf. NRSV “will be enriched”).

[21:19]  ¹⁸ sn By your endurance is a call to remain faithful, because trusting in Jesus is the means to life.

[21:19]  ¹⁹ tc Some important Greek witnesses plus the majority of mss (א D L W Ψ Ë¹ Ï) read the aorist imperative κτήσασθε (kthsasqe) here, though some mss (A B Θ Ë¹³ 33 pc lat sa) read the future indicative κτήσεσθε (kthsesqe). A decision is difficult because the evidence is so evenly balanced, but the aorist imperative is the harder reading and better explains the rise of the other. J. A. Fitzmyer assesses the translation options this way: “In English one has to use something similar [i.e., a future indicative], even if one follows the [aorist imperative]” (Luke [AB], 2:1341); in the same vein, although this translation follows the aorist imperative, because of English requirements it has been translated as though it were a future indicative.

[21:19]  ²⁰ tn Grk “your souls,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. In light of v. 16 that does not seem to be the case here. The entire phrase could be taken as an idiom meaning “you will save yourselves” (L&N 21.20), or (as in v. 18) this could refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.

[2:8]  ²¹ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ²² tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ²³ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[10:36]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

[5:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “wail”; Grk “crying aloud.”

[2:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “I turned aside to allow my heart despair.” The term לִבִּי (libbi, “my heart”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., heart) for the whole (i.e., whole person); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 648.

[2:20]  ²⁷ tn The phrase “the fruit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “labor”).

[2:20]  ²⁸ tn Heb “all my toil.” As in 2:18-19, the term עֲמָלִי (’amali, “my labor”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., my labor) for effect (i.e., the fruit of my labor). The metonymy is recognized by several translations: “all the fruits of my labor” (NAB); “all the fruit of my labor” (NASB); “all the gains I had made” (NJPS).

[2:20]  ²⁹ tn Here the author uses an internal cognate accusative construction (accusative noun and verb from the same root) for emphasis: שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי הֶעָמָל (he’amal she’amalti, “the toil for which I had toiled”); see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g.

[2:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[2:21]  ³¹ tn Heb “he must give.” The 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, “to give” + 3rd person masculine singular suffix) refers back to עֲמָלוֹ (’amalo, “his labor”) which is treated in this line as a metonymy of cause for effect, that is, “he must give it” = “he must give his labor” = “he must give the fruit of his labor.”

[2:21]  sn As in 2:18-19, Qoheleth laments the injustice that a person who works diligently in wisdom must one day hand over the fruit of his labor (i.e., his fortune and the care of his achievements) to his successor. There is no guarantee that one’s heir will be wise and be a good steward of this wealth, or be foolish and squander it – in which case, the former man’s entire life’s work would be in vain.

[2:21]  ³² tn Heb “it”; the referent (“the fruit of his labor”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:21]  ³³ tn Or “he must turn over an inheritance”; or “he must turn it over, namely, an inheritance.” There are two approaches to the syntax of חֶלְקוֹ (khelqo, “his inheritance”): (1) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is a subjective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which he must give to his heir. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is Qoheleth in 2:21a who worked hard to amass the fortune. The noun חֵלֶק (kheleq, “inheritance”) functions as an adverbial accusative of state (GKC 372 §118.a) or a predicate accusative (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12-13, §57): “He must give it [i.e., his fortune] as an inheritance.” (2) The 3rd person masculine singular suffix is an objective genitive: “his inheritance” = the inheritance which the heir will receive from Qoheleth. The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular suffix is the heir in 2:21b. The noun חֵלֶק (“inheritance”) functions as the accusative direct object in apposition (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 15-16, §71) to the 3rd person masculine singular suffix on יִתְּנֶנּוּ (yittÿnennu, “he must give it”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from נָתַן, natan, + 3rd person masculine singular suffix): “He must give it, namely, his inheritance, to one who did not work for it.”

[2:21]  ³⁴ tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice; wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b). The phrase רָעָה רַבָּה (ra’ah rabbah) connotes “grave injustice” or “great misfortune” (e.g., Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5). It is expressed well as: “This too is…a great misfortune” (NAB, NIV, MLB) and “utterly wrong!” (NEB).

[2:21]  sn Verses 18-21 are arranged into two sub-units (2:18-19 and 2:20-21). Each contains a parallel structure: (1) Introductory lament: “I hated all my toil” and “I began to despair about all my toil.” (2) Reason for the lament: “I must turn over the fruit of my labor to the hands of my successor” and “he must hand over the fruit of his work as an inheritance.” (3) Description of successor: “who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?” and “he did not work for it.” (4) Concluding statement: “This also is fruitless!” and “This also is profitless and an awful injustice!”

[5:5]  ³⁵ tn The word “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[5:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “your flesh.” The term בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”) is a synecdoche of part (i.e., flesh) for the whole (i.e., whole person), e.g., Gen 2:21; 6:12; Ps 56:4[5]; 65:2[3]; 145:21; Isa 40:5, 6; see HALOT 164 s.v. בָּשָׂר; E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 642.

[5:6]  ³⁷ tc The MT reads הַמַּלְאָךְ (hammal’akh, “messenger”), while the LXX reads τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou, “God”) which reflects an alternate textual tradition of הָאֱלֹהִים (ha’elohim, “God”). The textual problem was caused by orthographic confusion between similarly spelled words. The LXX might have been trying to make sense of a difficult expression. The MT is preferred as the original. All the major translations follow the MT except for Moffatt (“God”).

[5:6]  tn Heb “the messenger.” The term מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “messenger”) refers to a temple priest (e.g., Mal 2:7; cf. HALOT 585 s.v. מַלְאָךְ 2.b; BDB 521 s.v. מַלְאָךְ 1.c). The priests recorded what Israelite worshipers vowed (Lev 27:14-15). When an Israelite delayed in fulfilling a vow, a priest would remind him to pay what he had vowed. Although the traditional rabbinic view is that Qoheleth refers to an angelic superintendent over the temple, Rashi suggested that it is a temple-official. Translations reflect both views: “his representative” (NAB), “the temple messenger” (NIV), “the messenger” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NJPS), “the angel” (KJV, ASV, Douay) and “the angel of God” (NEB).

[5:6]  ³⁸ tn The Hebrew noun שְׁגָגָה (shÿgagah) denotes “error; mistake” and refers to a sin of inadvertence or unintentional sin (e.g., Lev 4:2, 22, 27; 5:18; 22:14; Num 15:24-29; 35:11, 15; Josh 20:3, 9; Eccl 5:5; 10:5); see HALOT 1412 s.v. שְׁגָגָה; BDB 993 s.v. שְׁגָגָה. In this case, it refers to a rash vow thoughtlessly made, which the foolish worshiper claims was a mistake (e.g., Prov 20:25).

[5:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “at your voice.” This is an example of metonymy (i.e., your voice) of association (i.e., you).