Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 1:6-9 
Context1:6 The wind goes to the south and circles around to the north;
round and round 1 the wind goes and on its rounds it returns. 2
1:7 All the streams flow 3 into the sea, but the sea is not full,
and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again. 4
1:8 All this 5 monotony 6 is tiresome; no one can bear 7 to describe it: 8
The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content 9 with hearing.
1:9 What exists now 10 is what will be, 11
and what has been done is what will be done;
there is nothing truly new on earth. 12
Ecclesiastes 1:17-18
Context1:17 So I decided 13 to discern the benefit of 14 wisdom and knowledge over 15 foolish behavior and ideas; 16
however, I concluded 17 that even 18 this endeavor 19 is like 20 trying to chase the wind! 21
1:18 For with great wisdom comes 22 great frustration;
whoever increases his 23 knowledge merely 24 increases his 25 heartache.
1 tn The Hebrew root סָבַב (savav, “to circle around”) is repeated four times in this verse to depict the wind’s continual motion: “The wind circles around (סוֹבֵב, sovev)…round and round (סוֹבֵב סֹבֵב)…its circuits (סְבִיבֹתָיו, sÿvivotayv).” This repetition is designed for a rhetorical purpose – to emphasize that the wind is locked into a never ending cycle. This vicious circle of monotonous action does not change anything. The participle form is used three times to emphasize continual, uninterrupted action (present universal use of participle). Despite the fact that the wind is always changing direction, nothing really new ever happens. The constant shifting of the wind cannot hide the fact that this is nothing but a repeated cycle; nothing new happens here (e.g., 1:9-10).
2 tn The use of שָׁב (shav, Qal active participle masculine singular from שׁוּב, shuv, “to return”) creates a wordplay (paronomasia) with the repetition of סָבַב (savav, “to circle around”). The participle emphasizes continual, durative, uninterrupted action (present universal use).
3 tn Heb “are going” or “are walking.” The term הֹלְכִים (holÿkhim, Qal active participle masculine plural from הָלַךְ, halakh,“to walk”) emphasizes continual, durative, uninterrupted action (present universal use of participle). This may be an example of personification; this verb is normally used in reference to the human activity of walking. Qoheleth compares the flowing of river waters to the action of walking to draw out the comparison between the actions of man (1:4) and the actions of nature (1:5-11).
4 tn Heb “there they are returning to go.” The term שָׁבִים (shavim, Qal active participle masculine plural from שׁוּב, shuv, “to return”) emphasizes the continual, durative action of the waters. The root שׁוּב is repeated in 1:6-7 to emphasize that everything in nature (e.g., wind and water) continually repeats its actions. For all of the repetition of the cycles of nature, nothing changes; all the constant motion produces nothing new.
sn This verse does not refer to the cycle of evaporation or the return of water by underground streams, as sometimes suggested. Rather, it describes the constant flow of river waters to the sea. For all the action of the water – endless repetition and water constantly in motion – there is nothing new accomplished.
5 tn The word “this” is not in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “the things.” The Hebrew term דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, masculine plural noun from דָּבָר, davar) is often used to denote “words,” but it can also refer to actions and events (HALOT 211 s.v. דָּבָר 3.a; BDB 183 s.v. דָּבָר IV.4). Here, it means “things,” as is clear from the context: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (1:9). Here דְּבָרִים can be nuanced “occurrences” or even “[natural] phenomena.”
7 tn Heb “is able.”
8 tn The Hebrew text has no stated object. The translation supplies “it” for stylistic reasons and clarification.
sn The statement no one can bear to describe it probably means that Qoheleth could have multiplied examples (beyond the sun, the wind, and the streams) of the endless cycle of futile events in nature. However, no tongue could ever tell, no eye could ever see, no ear could ever hear all the examples of this continual and futile activity.
9 tn The term מָלֵא (male’, “to be filled, to be satisfied”) is repeated in 1:7-8 to draw a comparison between the futility in the cycle of nature and human secular accomplishments: lots of action, but no lasting effects. In 1:7 אֵינֶנּוּ מָלֵא (’enennu male’, “it is never filled”) describes the futility of the water cycle: “All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never filled.” In 1:8 וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵא (vÿlo-timmale’, “it is never satisfied”) describes the futility of human labor: “the ear is never satisfied with hearing.”
10 tn Heb “what is.” The Hebrew verbal form is a perfect. Another option is to translate, “What has been.” See the next line, which speaks of the past and the future.
11 tn The Hebrew verbal form is an imperfect.
12 tn Heb “under the sun.”
13 tn Heb “gave my heart,” or “set my mind.” See v. 13.
14 tn The phrase “the benefit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 tn The word “over” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
16 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).
17 tn Heb “I know.”
18 tn The term גַּם (gam, “even”) is a particle of association and emphasis (HALOT 195 s.v. גַּם).
19 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
20 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
21 tn Heb “striving of wind.”
22 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
23 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
24 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
25 tn This term does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
