Ecclesiastes 10:19

Feasts ¹  are made ²  for laughter, and wine makes life merry, ³  but money is the answer ⁴  for everything.

Ge 43:34; 1Sa 25:36; 2Sa 13:28; 1Ch 21:24; 1Ch 29:2-9; 2Ch 24:11-14; Ezr 1:6; Ezr 7:15-18; Ne 5:8; Ps 104:15; Ps 112:9; Ec 2:1,2; Ec 7:2-6; Ec 7:11,12; Ec 9:7; Isa 23:18; Isa 24:11; Da 5:1-12; Mt 17:27; Mt 19:21; Lu 8:3; Lu 12:19; Lu 16:9; Ac 2:45; Ac 11:29v; Eph 5:18,19; Php 4:15-19; 1Ti 6:17-19; 1Pe 4:3

¹ tn Heb “bread.” The term לֶחֶם (lekhem) is used literally of “bread” and figuratively (i.e., by metonymy) for a “feast” (BDB 536–37 s.v. לֶחֶם). BDB suggests that עֹשִׂיה לֶחֶם (’osih lekhem) in Eccl 10:19 means “make a feast” (BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 1.a). This obscure line has occasioned numerous proposals: “a feast is made for laughter” (KJV, ASV, NIV); “feasts are made for laughter” (NRSV); “men feast for merrymaking” (Moffatt); “men prepare a meal for enjoyment” (NASB); “the table has its pleasures” (NEB); “they [i.e., rulers of v. 16] make a banquet for revelry” (NJPS); “people prepare a banquet for enjoyment” (MLB); “for laughter they make bread and wine, that the living may feast” (Douay); “bread is made for laughter” (RSV); “bread [and oil] call forth merriment” (NAB).

² tn The subject of the verb is not specified. When active verbs have an unspecified subject, they are often used in a passive sense: “Bread [feasts] are made….”

³ tn Heb “and wine gladdens life.”

⁴ tn Or “and [they think that] money is the answer for everything.”