Font Size
Ecclesiastes 3:8-10
New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 3:8-10
New English Translation
8 A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
Man is Ignorant of God’s Timing
9 What benefit can a worker[a] gain from his toil?[b]
10 I have observed the burden
that God has given to people[c] to keep them occupied.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:9 tn The term הָעוֹשֶׂה (haʿoseh, article plus Qal active participle ms from עָשַׂה, ʿasah, “to do”) functions substantively (“the worker”); see BDB 794 s.v. עָשַׂה II.1. This is a figurative description of man (metonymy of association), and plays on the repetition of עָשַׂה (verb: “to do,” noun: “work”) throughout the passage. In the light of God’s orchestration of human affairs, man’s efforts cannot change anything. It refers to man in general with the article functioning in a generic sense (see IBHS 244-45 §13.5.1f; Joüon 2:511 §137.m).
- Ecclesiastes 3:9 sn This rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “Man gains nothing from his toil!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949-51). Any advantage that man might gain from his toil is nullified by his ignorance of divine providence.
- Ecclesiastes 3:10 tn Heb “the sons of man.”
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.