Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 2:12 
Context2:12 Next, I decided to consider 1 wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. 2
For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king 3 has already done?
Ecclesiastes 3:14
Context3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;
nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.
God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
Ecclesiastes 6:9
Context6:9 It is better to be content with 4 what the eyes can see 5
than for one’s heart always to crave more. 6
This continual longing 7 is futile – like 8 chasing the wind.
Ecclesiastes 7:14
Context7:14 In times of prosperity 9 be joyful,
but in times of adversity 10 consider this:
God has made one as well as the other, 11
so that no one can discover what the future holds. 12
Ecclesiastes 8:8
Context8:8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, 13
so no one has power over the day of his 14 death.
Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, 15
so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked. 16
1 tn Heb “and I turned to see.”
2 sn See 1:17 for the same expression. Throughout 2:1-11, Qoheleth evaluated the merits of merrymaking (2:1-3), accomplishing grand things (2:4-6), amassing great wealth (2:7-8), and secular acquisitions and accomplishments (2:9-10). Now, he reflects on the benefit in life in living wisely and not giving oneself over to frivolous self-indulgence.
3 tc The Hebrew text reads עָשׂוּהוּ (’asuhu, “they have done it”; Qal perfect 3rd person masculine plural from עָשַׂה [’asah] + 3rd person masculine singular suffix). However, many medieval Hebrew
4 tn The phrase “to be content with” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 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.
6 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.
7 tn The phrase “continual longing” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
8 tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
9 tn Heb “the day of good.”
10 tn Heb “the day of evil.”
11 tn Less probable renderings of this line are “God hath made the one side by side with the other” (ASV) and “God has set the one alongside the other” (NEB).
12 tn Heb “anything after him.” This line is misinterpreted by several versions: “that man may not find against him any just complaint” (Douay); “consequently, man may find no fault with Him” (NJPS); “so that man cannot find fault with him in anything” (NAB).
13 tn Heb “There is not a man who has mastery over the wind to restrain the wind.”
14 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Heb “There is no discharge in war.”
16 tn Heb “its owners.”
