2:10 I did not restrain myself from getting whatever I wanted; 1
I did not deny myself anything that would bring me pleasure. 2
So all my accomplishments gave me joy; 3
this was my reward for all my effort. 4
9:9 Enjoy 5 life with your beloved wife 6 during all the days of your fleeting 7 life
that God 8 has given you on earth 9 during all your fleeting days; 10
for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work 11 on earth. 12
11:8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all,
but let him remember that the days of darkness 13 will be many – all that is about to come is obscure. 14
1 tn Heb “all which my eyes asked for, I did not withhold from them.”
2 tn Heb “I did not refuse my heart any pleasure.” 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. The term is repeated twice in 2:10 for emphasis.
3 tn Heb “So my heart was joyful from all my toil.”
4 tn Heb “and this was my portion from all my toil.”
5 tn Heb “see.”
6 tn Heb “the wife whom you love.”
7 tn As discussed in the note on the word “futile” in 1:2, the term הֶבֶל (hevel) has a wide range of meanings, and should not be translated the same in every place (see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הבֶל). The term is used in two basic ways in OT, literally and figuratively. The literal, concrete sense is used in reference to the wind, man’s transitory breath, evanescent vapor (Isa 57:13; Pss 62:10; 144:4; Prov 21:6; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is often a synonym for “breath; wind” (Eccl 1:14; Isa 57:13; Jer 10:14). The literal sense lent itself to the metaphorical sense. Because breath/vapor/wind is transitory and fleeting, the figurative connotation “fleeting; transitory” arose (e.g., Prov 31:30; Eccl 6:12; 7:15; 9:9; 11:10; Job 7:16). In this sense, it is parallel to “few days” and “[days] which he passes like a shadow” (Eccl 6:12). It is used in reference to youth and vigor (11:10) or life (6:12; 7:15; 9:9) which are “transitory” or “fleeting.” In this context, the most appropriate meaning is “fleeting.”
8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “under the sun”
10 tc The phrase כָּל יְמֵי הֶבְלֶךָ (kol yÿme hevlekha, “all your fleeting days”) is present in the MT, but absent in the Greek versions, other medieval Hebrew
11 tn Heb “in your toil in which you toil.”
12 tn Heb “under the sun.”
13 tn The phrase “the days of darkness” refers to the onset of old age (Eccl 12:1-5) and the inevitable experience of death (Eccl 11:7-8; 12:6-7). Elsewhere, “darkness” is a figure of speech (metonymy of association) for death (Job 10:21-22; 17:13; 18:18).
14 tn The term הֶבֶל (hevel) here means “obscure,” that is, unknown. This sense is derived from the literal concept of breath, vapor or wind that cannot be seen; thus, the idea of “obscure; dark; difficult to understand; enigmatic” (see HALOT 236–37 s.v. I הֶבֶל; BDB 210–11 s.v. I הֶבֶל). It is used in this sense in reference to enigmas in life (6:2; 8:10, 14) and the future which is obscure (11:8).