Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 6:2 
Context6:2 God gives a man riches, property, and wealth
so that he lacks nothing that his heart 1 desires, 2
yet God does not enable 3 him to enjoy 4 the fruit of his labor 5 –
instead, someone else 6 enjoys 7 it! 8
This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. 9
Ecclesiastes 8:15
Context8:15 So I recommend the enjoyment of life, 10
for there is nothing better on earth 11 for a person to do 12 except 13 to eat, drink, and enjoy 14 life. 15
So 16 joy 17 will accompany him in his toil
during the days of his life which God gives him on earth. 18
1 tn Heb “his appetite.”
2 tn Heb “There is no lack in respect to his appetite”; or “his desire lacks nothing.”
3 tn The verb שָׁלַט (shalat) in the Qal stem means “to domineer; to dominate; to lord it over; to be master of” and in the Hiphil stem “to give power to” (BDB 1020 s.v. שָׁלַט) and “to grant” (HALOT 1522 s.v. שׁלט). God must grant a person the ability to enjoy the fruit of his labor, otherwise a person will not be able to enjoy his possessions and wealth. The ability to partake of the fruit of one’s labor and to find satisfaction and joy in it is a gift from God (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:13; 5:18 [19]; 9:7).
4 tn Heb “to eat of it.” The verb אָכַל (’akhal, “to eat”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, the action of eating is associated with the enjoyment of the fruit of one’s labor (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22; 5:17-19; 8:15; 9:9).
5 tn The phrase “the fruit of his labor” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “a stranger.” The Hebrew expression אִיש נָכְרִי (’ish nokhri, “stranger”) sometimes refers not to a foreigner or someone that the person does not know, but simply to someone else other than the subject (e.g., Prov 27:2). In the light of 6:3-6, it might even refer to the man’s own heirs. The term is used as a synecdoche of species (foreigner for stranger) in the sense of someone else other than the subject: “someone else” (BDB 649 s.v. נָכְרִי 3).
7 tn Heb “eats.”
8 sn Instead, someone else enjoys it. A person may be unable to enjoy the fruit of his/her labor due to an unfortunate turn of events that robs a person of his possessions (5:13-14) or a miserly, lifelong hoarding of one’s wealth that robs him of the ability to enjoy what he has worked so hard to acquire (5:15-17). Qoheleth recommends the enjoyment of life and the fruit of one’s labor, as God enables (5:18-20). Unfortunately, the ability to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor is often thwarted by the obstacles described in 6:1-2 and 6:3-9.
9 tn Heb “an evil sickness.”
10 tn Heb “the enjoyment.” The phrase “of life” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
11 tn Heb “under the sun.”
12 tn The phrase “to do” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
13 tn The construction אִם…כִּי (ki…’im) is used as a particle of exception to limit the preceding clause (“except; nothing but”). See, e.g., Gen 28:17; 39:9; Lev 21:2; Num 14:30; Deut 10:12; 1 Sam 30:22; 2 Kgs 4:2; 5:15; 2 Chr 21:17; Esth 2:15; 5:12; Eccl 3:12; Isa 42:19; Dan 10:21; Mic 6:8 (cf. HALOT 471 s.v. אִם כִּי B.2; BDB 474 s.v. אִם כִּי 2.a).
14 sn Except to eat, drink, and enjoy life. Qoheleth is not commending a self-indulgent lifestyle of Epicurean hedonism. Nor is he lamenting the absolute futility of life and the lack of eternal retribution. He is submitting to the reality that in a sin-cursed world there is much of human existence marked by relative futility. Since the righteous man cannot assume that he will automatically experience temporal prosperity and blessings on this earth, he should – at the very least – enjoy each day to its fullest as a gift from God. D. R. Glenn (“Ecclesiastes,” BKCOT, 997) notes, “Each day’s joys should be received as gifts from God’s hands and be savored as God permits (3:13; 5:19).”
15 tn The term “life” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
16 tn The vav introduces a logical conclusion.
17 tn Heb “it”; the referent (enjoyment of life) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Heb “under the sun.”
