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Ecclesiastes 8:3-5
New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 8:3-5
New English Translation
3 Do not rush out of the king’s presence in haste—do not delay when the matter is unpleasant,[a]
for he can do whatever he pleases.
4 Surely the king’s authority[b] is absolute;[c]
no one can say[d] to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Whoever obeys his[e] command will not experience harm,
and a wise person[f] knows the proper time[g] and procedure.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:3 tn Or “do not stand up for a bad cause.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:4 tn Heb “word.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:4 tn Heb “supreme.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:4 tn Heb “Who can say…?”
- Ecclesiastes 8:5 tn The word “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
- Ecclesiastes 8:5 tn Heb “the heart of a wise man.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:5 tn The term עֵת (ʿet, “time”) connotes “a proper, suitable time for an event; the right moment” (HALOT 900 s.v. עֵת 6; BDB 773 s.v. עֵת 2.b); e.g., “it was the time for rain” (Ezra 10:13); “a time of judgment for the nations” (Ezek 30:3); “there is an appropriate time for every occasion” (Eccl 3:1); “the time when mountain goats are born” (Job 39:1); “the rain in its season” (Deut 11:14; Jer 5:24); “the time for the harvest” (Hos 2:11; Ps 1:3); “food in its season” (Ps 104:27).
New English Translation (NET)
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