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Everyone Will Die

So I reflected on all this,[a] attempting to clear[b] it all up.
I concluded that[c] the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;
whether a person will be loved or hated[d]
no one knows what lies ahead.[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 9:1 tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”
  2. Ecclesiastes 9:1 tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction plus Qal infinitive construct from בּוּר, bur, “to make clear”) denotes “to examine; to make clear; to clear up; to explain” (HALOT 116 s.v. בור; BDB 101 s.v. בּוּר). The term is related to Arabic baraw “to examine” (G. R. Driver, “Supposed Arabisms in the Old Testament,” JBL 55 [1936]: 108). This verb is related to the Hebrew noun בֹּר (bor, “cleanness”) and adjective בַּר (bar, “clean”). The term is used in the OT only in Ecclesiastes (1:13; 2:3; 7:25; 9:1). This use of the infinitive has a connotative sense (“attempting to”), and functions in a complementary sense, relative to the main verb.
  3. Ecclesiastes 9:1 tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
  4. Ecclesiastes 9:1 tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”
  5. Ecclesiastes 9:1 tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”

A Common Destiny for All

So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.(A)

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