Ecclesiastes 8:17 New English Translation
17 then I discerned all that God has done:[a]
No one really comprehends what happens[b] on earth.[c]
Despite all human[d] efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp[e] it.[f]
Even if[g] a wise person claimed[h] that he understood,
he would not really comprehend[i] it.[j]
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “all the work of God.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “the work that is done.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “under the sun.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “find.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The particle אִם (ʾim, “even if”) introduces the protasis in a real conditional clause (“If a wise man…”); see IBHS 636-37 §38.2d; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 74, §453.
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The imperfect tense verb יֹאמַר (yoʾmar, “to say”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility (see IBHS 508 §31.4e; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31, §169).
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”
- Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is an implied direct object and has been supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.
New English Translation (NET)
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