Zakharia 7:5-7

7:5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh ¹  months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me – for me, indeed? 7:6 And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?’” 7:7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem ²  was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah ³  were also populated?

Matius 6:16

Proper Fasting

6:16 “When ⁴  you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive ⁵  so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, ⁶  they have their reward.

Roma 14:6

14:6 The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The ⁷  one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God.

Roma 14:8

14:8 If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Efesus 5:22

Exhortations to Households

5:22 ⁸ Wives, submit ⁹  to your husbands as to the Lord,

Efesus 6:6-7

6:6 not like those who do their work only when someone is watching ¹⁰  – as people-pleasers – but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. ¹¹  6:7 Obey ¹²  with enthusiasm, as though serving the Lord ¹³  and not people,

Efesus 6:1

6:1 Children, ¹⁴  obey your parents in the Lord ¹⁵  for this is right.

Pengkhotbah 2:13

2:13 I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly, ¹⁶ 

just as light is preferable to darkness:

Pengkhotbah 2:15

2:15 So I thought to myself, “The fate of the fool will happen even to me! ¹⁷ 

Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively ¹⁸  wise?” ¹⁹ 

So I lamented to myself, ²⁰ 

“The benefits of wisdom ²¹  are ultimately ²²  meaningless!”

[7:5]  ¹ tn The seventh month apparently refers to the anniversary of the assassination of Gedaliah, governor of Judah (Jer 40:13-14; 41:1), in approximately 581 b.c.

[7:7]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:7]  ³ sn The Shephelah is the geographical region between the Mediterranean coastal plain and the Judean hill country. The Hebrew term can be translated “lowlands” (cf. ASV), “foothills” (NAB, NASB, NLT), or “steppes.”

[6:16]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:16]  ⁵ tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”

[6:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[14:6]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:22]  ⁸ tn Many scholars regard Eph 5:21 as the verse which introduces this section, rather than 5:22. This is due in part to the lack of a main verb in this verse (see tc note which follows). This connection is not likely, however, because it requires the participle ὑποτασσόμενοι (Jupotassomenoi, “submitting”) in 5:21 to act as the main verb of the section, and this participle more likely is linked to the command “be filled by the Spirit” in 5:18 as a participle of result (see sn above). In any case, 5:21 does form a strong link between 5:18-21 and what follows, so the paragraph division which has been placed between 5:21 and 22 should not be viewed as a complete break in the author’s thought.

[5:22]  ⁹ tc The witnesses for the shorter reading (in which the verb “submit” is only implied) are minimal (Ì⁴⁶ B Cl Hier^mss), but significant and early. The rest of the witnesses add one of two verb forms as required by the sense of the passage (picking up the verb from v. 21). Several of these witnesses have ὑποτασσέσθωσαν (Jupotassesqwsan), the third person imperative (so א A I P Ψ 0278 33 81 1175 1739 1881 al lat co), while other witnesses, especially the later Byzantine cursives, read ὑποτάσσεσθε (Jupotassesqe), the second person imperative (D F G Ï sy). The text virtually begs for one of these two verb forms, but the often cryptic style of Paul’s letters argues for the shorter reading. The chronology of development seems to have been no verb – third person imperative – second person imperative. It is not insignificant that early lectionaries began a new day’s reading with v. 22; these most likely caused copyists to add the verb at this juncture.

[6:6]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “not according to eye-service.”

[6:6]  ¹¹ tn Grk “from the soul.”

[6:7]  ¹² tn Though the verb does not appear again at this point in the passage, it is nonetheless implied and supplied in the English translation for the sake of clarity.

[6:7]  ¹³ tn Grk “serving as to the Lord.”

[6:1]  ¹⁴ tn The use of the article τά (ta) with τέκνα (tekna) functions in a generic way to distinguish this group from husbands, wives, fathers and slaves and is left, therefore, untranslated. The generic article is used with γύναῖκες (gunaikes) in 5:22, ἄνδρες (andres) in 5:25, δοῦλοι (douloi) in 6:5, and κύριοι (kurioi) in 6:9.

[6:1]  ¹⁵ tc B D* F G as well as a few versional and patristic representatives lack “in the Lord” (ἐν κυρίῳ, en kuriw), while the phrase is well represented in Ì⁴⁶ א A D¹ I^vid Ψ 0278 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï sy co. Scribes may have thought that the phrase could be regarded a qualifier on the kind of parents a child should obey (viz., only Christian parents), and would thus be tempted to delete the phrase to counter such an interpretation. It is unlikely that the phrase would have been added, since the form used to express such sentiment in this Haustafel is ὡς τῷ κυρίῳ/Χριστῷ (Jw" tw kuriw/Cristw, “as to the Lord/Christ”; see 5:22; 6:5). Even though the witnesses for the omission are impressive, it is more likely that the phrase was deleted than added by scribal activity.

[2:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and I saw that there is profit for wisdom more than folly.”

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn The emphatic use of the 1st person common singular personal pronoun אֲנִי (’ani, “me”) with the emphatic particle of association גַּם (gam, “even, as well as”; HALOT 195–96 s.v. גַּם) appears to emphasize the 1st person common singular suffix on יִקְרֵנִי (yiqreni) “it will befall [or “happen to”] me” (Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular + 1st person common singular suffix from קָרָה, qarah, “to befall; to happen to”); see GKC 438 §135.e. Qoheleth laments not that the fate of the wise man is the same as that of the fool, but that even he himself – the wisest man of all – would fare no better in the end than the most foolish.

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn The adjective יוֹתֵר (yoter) means “too much; excessive,” e.g., 7:16 “excessively righteous” (HALOT 404 s.v. יוֹתֵר 2; BDB 452 s.v. יוֹתֵר). It is derived from the root יֶתֶר (yeter, “what is left over”); see HALOT 452 s.v. I יֶתֶר. It is related to the verbal root יתר (Niphal “to be left over”; Hiphil “to have left over”); see HALOT 451–52 s.v. I יתר. The adjective is related to יִתְרוֹן (yitron, “advantage; profit”) which is a key-term in this section, creating a word-play: The wise man has a relative “advantage” (יִתְרוֹן) over the fool (2:13-14a); however, there is no ultimate advantage because both share the same fate, i.e., death (2:14b-15a). Thus, Qoheleth’s acquisition of tremendous wisdom (1:16; 2:9) was “excessive” because it exceeded its relative advantage over folly: it could not deliver him from the same fate as the fool. He had striven to obtain wisdom, yet it held no ultimate advantage.

[2:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And why was I wise (to) excess?” The rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “I gained nothing!” (E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949).

[2:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “So I said in my heart.”

[2:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “and also this,” referring to the relative advantage of wisdom over folly.

[2:15]  ²² tn The word “ultimately” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.