Ecclesiastes 6:9

It is better to be content with ¹  what the eyes can see ²  than for one’s heart always to crave more. ³  This continual longing ⁴  is futile – like ⁵  chasing the wind.

Job 31:7; Pr 30:15,16; Ec 1:2,14; Ec 2:11,22,23; Ec 2:24; Ec 3:12,13; Ec 4:4; Ec 5:18; Ec 6:2; Jer 2:20

¹ tn The phrase “to be content with” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn The expression מַרְאֵה עֵינַיִם (mar’eh ’enayim, “the seeing of the eyes”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., seeing an object) for effect (i.e., being content with what the eyes can see); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 552-54.

³ tn Heb “the roaming of the soul.” The expression מֵהֲלָךְ־נָפֶשׁ (mehalakh-nafesh, “the roaming of the soul”) is a metonymy for unfulfilled desires. The term “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) is used as a metonymy of association for man’s desires and appetites (BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 5.c; 6.a). This also involves the personification of the roving appetite as “roving” (מֵהֲלָךְ); see BDB 235 s.v. הָלַךְ II.3.f; 232 I.3.

⁴ tn The phrase “continual longing” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.