Ecclesiastes 5:18
New English Translation
Enjoy the Fruit of Your Labor
18 I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people:[a]
to eat and drink,[b] and find enjoyment in all their[c] hard work[d] on earth[e]
during the few days of their life that God has given them,
for this is their reward.[f]
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 tn Heb “Behold, that which I have seen, I, good which is beautiful.” The phrase “for people” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 sn The phrase “to eat and to drink” is a common idiom in Ecclesiastes for a person enjoying the fruit of his labor (e.g., 2:24; 3:13).
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 tn Heb “his,” and three times later in the verse.
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 tn Heb “the toil which one toils.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 tn Heb “under the sun.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 tn The term חֵלֶק (kheleq, “lot”) has a wide range of meanings: (1) “share of spoils” (Gen 14:24; Num 31:36; 1 Sam 30:24), (2) “portion of food” (Lev 6:10; Deut 18:8; Hab 1:16), (3) “portion [or tract] of land” (Deut 10:9; 12:12; Josh 19:9), (4) “portion” or “possession” (Num 18:20; Deut 32:9), (5) “inheritance” (2 Kgs 9:10; Amos 7:4), (6) “portion” or “award” (Job 20:29; 27:13; 31:2; Isa 17:14) or “profit; reward” (Eccl 2:10, 21; 3:22; 5:17-18; 9:6, 9); see HALOT 323 s.v. II חֵלֶק; BDB 324 s.v. חֵלֶק. Throughout Ecclesiastes, the term is used in reference to man’s temporal profit from his labor, his reward from God (e.g., Eccl 3:22; 9:9).
Ecclesiastes 5:18
King James Version
18 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.
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Ecclesiastes 5:18
New King James Version
18 Here is what I have seen: (A)It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; (B)for it is his [a]heritage.
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- Ecclesiastes 5:18 Lit. portion
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