3:2 A time to be born, 1 and a time to die; 2
a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;
4:3 But better than both is the one who has not been born 3
and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. 4
4:14 For he came out of prison 5 to become king,
even though he had been born poor in what would become his 6 kingdom.
1 tn The verb יָלָד (yalad, “to bear”) is used in the active sense of a mother giving birth to a child (HALOT 413 s.v. ילד; BDB 408 s.v. יָלָד). However, in light of its parallelism with “a time to die,” it should be taken as a metonymy of cause (i.e., to give birth to a child) for effect (i.e., to be born).
2 sn In 3:2-8, Qoheleth uses fourteen sets of merisms (a figure using polar opposites to encompass everything in between, that is, totality), e.g., Deut 6:6-9; Ps 139:2-3 (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 435).
3 tn The word “born” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “under the sun.”
5 tn Heb “came from the house of bonds.”
6 tn The phrase “what would become” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. However, it is not altogether clear whether the 3rd person masculine singular suffix (“his”) on בְּמַלְכוּתוֹ (bÿmalkhuto, “his kingdom”) refers to the old foolish king or to the poor but wise youth of 4:13.