9:1 So I reflected on all this, 1 attempting to clear 2 it all up.
I concluded that 3 the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;
whether a person will be loved or hated 4 –
no one knows what lies ahead. 5
9:6 What they loved, 6 as well as what they hated 7 and envied, 8 perished long ago,
and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth. 9
1 tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”
2 tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction + Qal infinitive construct from בּוּר, bur, “to make clear”) denotes “to examine; to make clear; to clear up; to explain” (HALOT 116 s.v. בור; BDB 101 s.v. בּוּר). The term is related to Arabic baraw “to examine” (G. R. Driver, “Supposed Arabisms in the Old Testament,” JBL 55 [1936]: 108). This verb is related to the Hebrew noun בֹּר (bor, “cleanness”) and adjective בַּר (bar, “clean”). The term is used in the OT only in Ecclesiastes (1:13; 2:3; 7:25; 9:1). This use of the infinitive has a connotative sense (“attempting to”), and functions in a complementary sense, relative to the main verb.
3 tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”
5 tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”
6 tn Heb “their love.”
7 tn Heb “their hatred.”
8 tn Heb “their envy.”
9 tn Heb “under the sun.”