Ecclesiastes 7:24-26

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Ecclesiastes 7:24 tn The word “human” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
2. Ecclesiastes 7:24 tn Heb “is far away.”
3. Ecclesiastes 7:24 tn Heb “It is deep, deep—who can find it?” The repetition of the word “deep” emphasizes the degree of incomprehensibility. See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a.
4. Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Heb “I turned, I, even my heart.”
5. Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Heb “to seek.”
6. Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn The phrase “the role of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
7. Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn The phrase חָכְמָה וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן (khokhmah v^ekheshbon, “wisdom and the scheme of things”) is a hendiadys (a figure of speech in which two nouns connote one idea): “wisdom in the scheme of things.” This is similar to the hendiadys עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ וְהֵרֹנֵךְ (ʿits^evonekh v^eheronekh, “pain and childbearing”) which connotes “pain in childbearing” (Gen 3:16).
8. Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Or “the evil of folly” The genitive construct phrase רֶשַׁע כֶּסֶל (reshaʿ kesel) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the wickedness of folly”) or as a genitive of attribute (“the folly of wickedness”). The English versions treat it in various ways: “wickedness of folly” (KJV); “wrong of folly” (YLT); “evil of folly” (NASB); “stupidity of wickedness” (NIV); “wickedness, stupidity” (NJPS); “wickedness is folly [or foolish]” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt), and “it is folly to be wicked” (NEB).
9. Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Or “the folly of madness” The genitive construct phrase וְהַסִּכְלוּת הוֹלֵלוֹת (v^ehassikh^elut holelot) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the stupidity of wickedness”) or a genitive of attribute (“the evil of folly”). The phrase is rendered variously: “foolishness and madness” (KJV); “foolishness of madness” (NASB); “madness of folly” (NIV); “madness and folly” (NJPS); “the foolishness which is madness” (NEB); and “foolishness [or folly] is madness” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt).
10. Ecclesiastes 7:26 tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
11. Ecclesiastes 7:26 tn The phrase “kind of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “woman”).
12. Ecclesiastes 7:26 tn The article on הָאִשָּׁה (haʾishah) functions in a particularizing sense (“the kind of woman”) rather than in a generic sense (i.e., “women”).
13. Ecclesiastes 7:26 tn Heb “is snares.” The plural form מְצוֹדִים (m^etsodim, from the noun I מָצוֹד, matsod, “snare”) is used to connote either intensity, repeated or habitual action, or moral characteristic. For the function of the Hebrew plural, see IBHS 120-21 §7.4.2. The term II מָצוֹד “snare” is used in a concrete sense in reference to the hunter’s snare or net, but in a figurative sense of being ensnared by someone (Job 19:6; Prov 12:12; Eccl 7:26).