⁴ tn Or “good pleasure.”

² tn Grk “considering carousing in the daytime a pleasure.”

⁵ tn Heb “They do not take pleasure in it.”

² tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”

³ sn The name Eden (עֵדֶן,ʿeden) means “pleasure” in Hebrew.

⁴ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

¹ tn Or to smell it, to use for the maker’s own pleasure.

¹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

⁴ sn The contrast between “delight/pleasure” and “abomination” is emphatic. What pleases the Lord is acting truthfully or faithfully.

² sn The wicked person holds on to evil as long as he can, savoring the taste or the pleasure of it.

⁴ sn The statement I will try self-indulgent pleasure is a figurative expression known as metonymy of association. As 2:1-3 makes clear, it is not so much Qoheleth who is put to the test with pleasure, but rather that pleasure is put to the test by Qoheleth.

⁵ tn Many associate the name “Beth Eden” with Bit Adini, an Aramean state located near the Euphrates River, but it may be a sarcastic epithet meaning “house of pleasure.”

⁴ tn Heb “[is] his pleasure.” The third person masculine singular suffix functions as a subjective genitive: “he is pleased.” God is pleased with the prayers of the upright.

² tn Heb “and he does not swallow.” In the context this means “consume” for his own pleasure and prosperity. The verbal clause is here taken adverbially.

¹ tn Or “Does it give you pleasure?” The expression could also mean, “Is it profitable for you?” or “Is it fitting for you?”

³ sn This statement contains a great deal of restrained humor. The author clearly takes pleasure in the effectiveness of the measures that he had enacted.

² tn The verb may be seen as either of two homophonous roots רָצָה (ratsah) meaning “to restore” or “to accept, take pleasure in.”

¹ sn The participle “loves” (אֹהֵב, ʾohev) indicates in this context that more is involved than the enjoyment of pleasure, for which there is no problem. The proverb is looking at “love” in the sense of needing and choosing, an excessive or uncontrolled indulgence in pleasure.

³ tn Or “with the pleasure of her hands.” The noun חֵפֶץ (khefets) means “delight; pleasure” and the form may be either construct “delight of,” or absolute “delight.” BDB suggests it means here “that in which one takes pleasure,” i.e., a business, and translates the line “in the business of her hands” (BDB 343 s.v. 4). But that translation reduces the emphasis on pleasure and could have easily been expressed in other ways. The prepositional phrase “with delight” describes the manner in which she worked. If the noun is absolute, then the second noun “hands” is an adverbial accusative of means. If “delight” is part of the construct relationship, then “delight” is first applied to “hands” (genitive of specification) and then back to the verb. In either case, she worked with her hands and in an eager or happy manner. Tg. Prov 31:13 has, “she works with her hands in accordance with her pleasure.”

⁴ sn On warnings about the dangers of excessive material attachments, described here as the worries and riches and pleasures of life, see Luke 12:12-21; 16:19-31.