Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 3:12 
Context3:12 I have concluded 1 that there is nothing better for people 2
than 3 to be happy and to enjoy
themselves 4 as long as they live,
Ecclesiastes 9:7
Context9:7 Go, eat your food 5 with joy,
and drink your wine with a happy heart,
because God has already approved your works.
1 tn Heb “I know.”
2 tn Heb “for them”; the referent (people, i.e., mankind) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Qoheleth uses the exceptive particle אִם…כִּי (ki…’im, “except”) to identify the only exception to the futility within man’s life (BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 2).
4 tn Heb “to do good.” The phrase לַעֲשׂוֹת טוֹב (la’asot tov) functions idiomatically for “to experience [or see] happiness [or joy].” The verb עָשַׂה (’asah) probably denotes “to acquire; to obtain” (BDB 795 s.v. עָשַׂה II.7), and טוֹב (tov) means “good; pleasure; happiness,” e.g., Eccl 2:24; 3:13; 5:17 (BDB 375 s.v. טוֹב 1).
5 tn Heb “your bread.”
