Font Size
Ecclesiastes 4:4
New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 4:4
New English Translation
Labor Motivated by Envy
4 Then I considered[a] all the skillful work[b] that is done:
Surely it is nothing more than[c] competition[d] between one person and another.[e]
This also is profitless—like[f] chasing the wind.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 tn Heb “saw.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 tn Heb “all the toil and all the skill.” This Hebrew clause (אֶת־כָּל־עָמָל וְאֵת כָּל־כִּשְׁרוֹן, ʾet kol ʿamal veʾet kol kishron) is a nominal hendiadys (a figurative expression in which two independent phrases are used to connote the same thing). The second functions adverbially, modifying the first, which retains its full nominal function: “all the skillful work.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 tn The phrase “nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 tn The noun קִנְאַה (qinʾah, “competition”) has a wide range of meanings: “zeal; jealousy; envy; rivalry; competition; suffering; animosity; anger; wrath” (HALOT 1110 s.v.; BDB 888 s.v.). Here, as in 9:6, it denotes “rivalry” (BDB 888 s.v. 1) or “competitive spirit” (HALOT 1110 s.v. 1.b). The LXX rendered it ζῆλος (zēlos, “envy; jealousy”). The English versions reflect this broad range: “rivalry” (NEB, NAB, NASB), “envy” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NRSV, MLB, NIV, NJPS), and “jealousy” (Moffatt).
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 tn Heb “a man above his neighbor.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:4 tn The word “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
Ecclesiastes 4:4
New International Version
Ecclesiastes 4:4
New International Version
4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.(A)
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.