Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Qohelet reflects upon satisfaction and the unknowable fate of man.
II. Photo
Nobody has the answers: “Who can possibly know what is best for a man to do in life — the few days of his fleeting life?” (v. 12)
III. Select Verses
1-2: There is an evil I have observed under the sun, and a grave one it is for man: that God sometimes grants a man riches, property, and wealth, so that he does not want for anything his appetite may crave, but God does not permit him to enjoy it; instead, a stranger will enjoy it. That is futility and a grievous ill.
3: Even if a man should beget a hundred children and live many years — no matter how many the days of his years may come to, if his gullet is not sated through his wealth, I say: The stillbirth, though it was not even accorded a burial, is more fortunate than he.
10: Whatever happens, it was designated long ago and it was known that it would happen; as for man, he cannot contend with what is stronger than he.
12: Who can possibly know what is best for a man to do in life — the few days of his fleeting life? For who can tell him what the future holds for him under the sun?
IV. Outline
1-6. People who cannot enjoy
7-9. People who are never satisfied
10-12. The fate of man
V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.
VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
C. L. Seow, Ecclesiastes (Anchor Yale Bible 18C; New Haven: Yale, 1997).
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