Font Size
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13
New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13
New English Translation
12 Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes[a] and still live a long time,[b]
yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people[c]—for they stand in fear[d] before him.
13 But it will not go well with the wicked,
nor will they[e] prolong their[f] days like a shadow,[g]
because they[h] do not stand in fear[i] before God.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:12 tn Heb “does evil one hundred [times].”
- Ecclesiastes 8:12 tn Heb “and prolongs his [life].”
- Ecclesiastes 8:12 tn Heb “those who fear God.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:12 tn Heb “they fear.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 tn Heb “he.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 tn The word “their” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 tn The phrase “like a shadow” (כַּצֵּל, katsel) modifies the verb (“prolong”) rather than the noun (“days”). Several English versions misconstrue the line: “he will not prolong his days, [which are] like a shadow” (KJV, ASV); “the man who does not fear God is like a shadow” (NEB); and “he will not prolong his shadowy days” (NAB). It should be rendered “he will not prolong his days like a shadow” (RSV, NRSV, NASB, MLB, NIV). Unlike a shadow that lengthens at sunset, the wicked do not normally live long.
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 tn Heb “he.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 tn Heb “they do not fear.”
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.