1:17 So I decided 1 to discern the benefit of 2 wisdom and knowledge over 3 foolish behavior and ideas; 4
however, I concluded 5 that even 6 this endeavor 7 is like 8 trying to chase the wind! 9
4:4 Then I considered 10 all the skillful work 11 that is done:
Surely it is nothing more than 12 competition 13 between one person and another. 14
This also is profitless – like 15 chasing the wind.
4:16 There is no end to all the people 16 nor to the past generations, 17
yet future generations 18 will not rejoice in him.
This also is profitless and like 19 chasing the wind.
6:9 It is better to be content with 20 what the eyes can see 21
than for one’s heart always to crave more. 22
This continual longing 23 is futile – like 24 chasing the wind.
8:8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, 25
so no one has power over the day of his 26 death.
Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, 27
so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. 28
11:5 Just as you do not know the path 29 of the wind,
or how the bones form 30 in the womb of a pregnant woman, 31
so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
1 tn Heb “gave my heart,” or “set my mind.” See v. 13.
2 tn The phrase “the benefit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The word “over” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 tn The terms שִׂכְלוּת (sikhlut, “folly”) and הוֹלֵלוֹת (holelot, “foolishness”) are synonyms. The term שִׂכְלוּת (alternate spelling of סִכְלוּת, sikhlut) refers to foolish behavior (HALOT 755 s.v. סִכְלוּת), while הוֹלֵלוֹת refers to foolish ideas and mental blindness (HALOT 242 s.v. הוֹלֵלוֹת). Qoheleth uses these terms to refer to foolish ideas and self-indulgent pleasures (e.g., Eccl 2:2-3, 12-14; 7:25; 9:3; 10:1, 6, 13).
5 tn Heb “I know.”
6 tn The term גַּם (gam, “even”) is a particle of association and emphasis (HALOT 195 s.v. גַּם).
7 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “striving of wind.”
10 tn Heb “saw.”
11 tn Heb “all the toil and all the skill.” This Hebrew clause (אֶת־כָּל־עָמָל וְאֵת כָּל־כִּשְׁרוֹן, ’et-kol-’amal vÿ’et kol-kishron) is a nominal hendiadys (a figurative expression in which two independent phrases are used to connote the same thing). The second functions adverbially, modifying the first, which retains its full nominal function: “all the skillful work.”
12 tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
13 tn The noun קִנְאַה (qin’ah, “competition”) has a wide range of meanings: “zeal; jealousy; envy; rivalry; competition; suffering; animosity; anger; wrath” (HALOT 1110 s.v.; BDB 888 s.v.). Here, as in 9:6, it denotes “rivalry” (BDB 888 s.v. 1) or “competitive spirit” (HALOT 1110 s.v. 1.b). The LXX rendered it ζῆλος (zhlos, “envy; jealousy”). The English versions reflect this broad range: “rivalry” (NEB, NAB, NASB), “envy” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, MLB, NIV, NJPS), and “jealousy” (Moffatt).
14 tn Heb “a man and his neighbor.”
15 tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “the people.” The term עַם (’am, “people”) can refer to the subjects of the king (BDB 766 s.v. עַם 2).
17 tn Heb “those who were before them.”
18 tn Heb “those coming after.” The Hebrew term הָאַחֲרוֹנִים (ha’akharonim, “those coming after”) is derived from the preposition אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”). When used in reference to time, it refers to future generations (e.g., Deut 29:21; Pss 48:14; 78:4, 6; 102:19; Job 18:20; Eccl 1:11; 4:16); cf. HALOT 36 s.v. אַחַר B.3; BDB 30 s.v. אַחַר 2.b).
19 tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
20 tn The phrase “to be content with” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
21 tn The expression מַרְאֵה עֵינַיִם (mar’eh ’enayim, “the seeing of the eyes”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., seeing an object) for effect (i.e., being content with what the eyes can see); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 552-54.
22 tn Heb “the roaming of the soul.” The expression מֵהֲלָךְ־נָפֶשׁ (mehalakh-nafesh, “the roaming of the soul”) is a metonymy for unfulfilled desires. The term “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) is used as a metonymy of association for man’s desires and appetites (BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 5.c; 6.a). This also involves the personification of the roving appetite as “roving” (מֵהֲלָךְ); see BDB 235 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.f; 232 I.3.
23 tn The phrase “continual longing” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
24 tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
25 tn Heb “There is not a man who has mastery over the wind to restrain the wind.”
26 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
27 tn Heb “There is no discharge in war.”
28 tn Heb “its owners.”
29 tn Heb “what is the way of the wind.” Some take these words with what follows: “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman.” There is debate whether הָרוּחַ מַה־דֶּרֶךְ (mah-derekh haruakh) refers to the wind (“the path of the wind”) or the human spirit of a child in the mother’s womb (“how the spirit comes”). The LXX understood it as the wind: “the way of the wind” (ἡ ὁδὸς τοῦ πνεύματος, Jh Jodos tou pneumatos); however, the Targum and Vulgate take it as the human spirit. The English versions are divided: (1) spirit: “the way of the spirit” (KJV, YLT, Douay); “the breath of life” (NAB); “how a pregnant woman comes to have…a living spirit in her womb” (NEB); “how the lifebreath passes into the limbs within the womb of the pregnant woman” (NJPS); “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child” (RSV); “how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb” (NRSV); and (2) wind: “the way of the wind” (ASV, RSV margin); “the path of the wind” (NASB, NIV); and “how the wind blows” (MLB, Moffatt).
30 tn The term “form” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
31 tn Heb “the one who is full.” The feminine adjective מְלֵאָה (mÿle’ah, from מָלֵא, male’, “full”) is used as a substantive referring to a pregnant woman whose womb is filled with her infant (HALOT 584 s.v. מָלֵא 2; BDB 571 s.v. מָלֵא). This term is used in reference to a pregnant woman in later Hebrew (HALOT 584 s.v. מָלֵא). The LXX understood the term in this sense: κυοφορούσης (kuoforoushs, “pregnant woman”).