Ecclesiastes 6:9 
Context| NET © | 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. |
| NIV © | Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. |
| NASB © | What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind. |
| NLT © | Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless; it is like chasing the wind. |
| MSG © | Just grab whatever you can while you can; don't assume something better might turn up by and by. All it amounts to anyway is smoke. And spitting into the wind. |
| BBE © | What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind. |
| NRSV © | Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this also is vanity and a chasing after wind. |
| NKJV © | Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. |
| KJV | |
| NASB © | |
| HEBREW | |
| LXXM | |
| NET © [draft] ITL | |
| NET © | 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. |
| NET © Notes |
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. |
