Ecclesiastes 6:2 New English Translation
2 God gives a man riches, property, and wealth
so that he lacks nothing that his heart[a] desires,[b]
yet God does not enable[c] him to enjoy[d] the fruit of his labor[e]—
instead, someone else[f] enjoys[g] it![h]
This is fruitless and a grave misfortune.[i]
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn Heb “his appetite.”
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn Heb “There is no lack in respect to his appetite”; or “his desire lacks nothing.”
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn The verb שָׁלַט (shalat) in the Qal stem means “to domineer; to dominate; to lord it over; to be master of” and in the Hiphil stem “to give power to” (BDB 1020 s.v. שָׁלַט) and “to grant” (HALOT 1522 s.v. שׁלט). God must grant a person the ability to enjoy the fruit of his labor, otherwise a person will not be able to enjoy his possessions and wealth. The ability to partake of the fruit of one’s labor and to find satisfaction and joy in it is a gift from God (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:13; 5:18 [19]; 9:7).
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn Heb “to eat of it.” The verb אָכַל (ʾakhal, “to eat”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, the action of eating is associated with the enjoyment of the fruit of one’s labor (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22; 5:17-19; 8:15; 9:9).
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn The phrase “the fruit of his labor” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn Heb “a stranger.” The Hebrew expression אִיש נָכְרִי (ʾish nokhri, “stranger”) sometimes refers not to a foreigner or someone that the person does not know, but simply to someone else other than the subject (e.g., Prov 27:2). In the light of 6:3-6, it might even refer to the man’s own heirs. The term is used as a synecdoche of species (foreigner for stranger) in the sense of someone else other than the subject: “someone else” (BDB 649 s.v. נָכְרִי 3).
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn Heb “eats.”
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 sn Instead, someone else enjoys it. A person may be unable to enjoy the fruit of his/her labor due to an unfortunate turn of events that robs a person of his possessions (5:13-14) or a miserly, lifelong hoarding of one’s wealth that robs him of the ability to enjoy what he has worked so hard to acquire (5:15-17). Qoheleth recommends the enjoyment of life and the fruit of one’s labor, as God enables (5:18-20). Unfortunately, the ability to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor is often thwarted by the obstacles described in 6:1-2 and 6:3-9.
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 tn Heb “an evil sickness.”
New English Translation (NET)
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