Ecclesiastes 4:4

Then I considered ¹  all the skillful work ²  that is done: Surely it is nothing more than ³  competition ⁴  between one person and another. ⁵  This also is profitless – like ⁶  chasing the wind.

Ge 4:4-8; Ge 37:2-11; Ge 37:4,11; 1Sa 18:8,9,14-16,29,30; Pr 27:4; Ec 1:14; Ec 2:21,26; Ec 4:16; Ec 6:9,11; Mt 27:18; Ac 7:9; Jas 4:5; 1Jo 3:12

¹ tn Heb “saw.”

² tn Heb “all the toil and all the skill.” This Hebrew clause (אֶת־כָּל־עָמָל וְאֵת כָּל־כִּשְׁרוֹן, ’et-kol-’amal vÿ’et kol-kishron) is a nominal hendiadys (a figurative expression in which two independent phrases are used to connote the same thing). The second functions adverbially, modifying the first, which retains its full nominal function: “all the skillful work.”

³ tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn The noun קִנְאַה (qin’ah, “competition”) has a wide range of meanings: “zeal; jealousy; envy; rivalry; competition; suffering; animosity; anger; wrath” (HALOT 1110 s.v.; BDB 888 s.v.). Here, as in 9:6, it denotes “rivalry” (BDB 888 s.v. 1) or “competitive spirit” (HALOT 1110 s.v. 1.b). The LXX rendered it ζῆλος (zhlos, “envy; jealousy”). The English versions reflect this broad range: “rivalry” (NEB, NAB, NASB), “envy” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, MLB, NIV, NJPS), and “jealousy” (Moffatt).

⁵ tn Heb “a man and his neighbor.”

⁶ tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.