ECC 2:26 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) Yes, he gives wisdom and knowledge and happiness to people who are good in his sight.
⇔ But to the sinner, he gives the job of gathering and collecting to give to the one who’s good in God’s sight.
⇔ That also is pointless and chasing after the wind.[ref]

Key: khaki:verbs, blue:Elohim.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Ὅτι τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ ἀγαθῷ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ ἔδωκε σοφίαν καὶ γνῶσιν καὶ εὐφροσύνην, καὶ τῷ ἁμαρτάνοντι ἔδωκε περισπασμὸν τοῦ προσθεῖναι καὶ τοῦ συναγαγεῖν, τοῦ δοῦναι τῷ ἀγαθῷ πρὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι καί γε τοῦτο ματαιότης καὶ προαίρεσις πνεύματος.
(Hoti tōi anthrōpōi tōi agathōi pro prosōpou autou edōke sofian kai gnōsin kai eufrosunaʸn, kai tōi hamartanonti edōke perispasmon tou prostheinai kai tou sunagagein, tou dounai tōi agathōi pro prosōpou tou Theou, hoti kai ge touto mataiotaʸs kai proairesis pneumatos. )

BrTr For God has given to the man who is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but he has given to the sinner trouble, to add and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God; for this is also vanity and waywardness of spirit.

ULT For to a person who is good to his face, he gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. But to the sinner he gives the business to gather and to collect to give to the one who is good to the face of God. This also is vapor and striving after wind.

UST God enables those who please him to be wise, to know many things, and to enjoy many things. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God can take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. However, the reason for that is also something that is difficult for me to understand. It seems useless that they worked so hard; it is like trying to control the wind.

BSB To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating [that which] he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

OEB For the man who pleases Him He gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness; to the sinner, on the other hand, He gives the task of gathering and amassing, that it may be given (in the end) to the man who pleases God. Here is another illusion and chasing of the wind.

WEBBE For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET For to the one who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy,
⇔ but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing wealth –
⇔ only to give it to the one who pleases God.
¶ 
⇔ This task of the wicked is futile – like chasing the wind!

LSV For to a man who [is] good before Him, He has given wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; and to a sinner He has given travail, to gather and to heap up, to give to the good before God. Even this [is] vanity and distress of spirit.

FBV To those who are good, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy. But to the sinner God gives the task of gathering and collecting wealth, only to hand it over to someone who pleases God. This also shows how fleeting life is, and hard to understand—like trying to understand how the wind blows.

T4T God enables those who please him to be wise, to know many things, and to enjoy many things. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God can take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. But that also is something that is difficult for me to understand. Their working hard seems useless, like chasing the wind.

LEB No LEB ECC book available

BBE To the man with whom he is pleased, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of getting goods together and storing up wealth, to give to him in whom God has pleasure. This again is to no purpose and desire for wind.

Moff No Moff ECC book available

JPS For to the man that is good in His sight He giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He giveth the task, to gather and to heap up, that he may leave to him that is good in the sight of God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

ASV For to the man that pleaseth him God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

DRA God hath given to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he hath given vexation, and superfluous care, to heap up and to gather together, and to give it to him that hath pleased God: but this also is vanity, and a fruitless solicitude of the mind.

YLT For to a man who [is] good before Him, He hath given wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; and to a sinner He hath given travail, to gather and to heap up, to give to the good before God. Even this [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

Drby For he giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good in [fn]God's sight. This also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.

2.26 Elohim

RV For to the man that pleaseth him God giveth wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
(For to the man that pleaseth/pleases him God giveth/gives wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth/gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that pleaseth/pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. )

SLT For to a man good before his face, he gave wisdom and knowledge and gladness: and to him sinning, he gave labor, to gather and to heap up, to give to the good one before the face of God. Also this is vanity and the striving of the spirit.

Wbstr For God giveth to a man who is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth toil, to gather, and to amass, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

KJB-1769 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.[fn]
(For God giveth/gives to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth/gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation/frustration of spirit. )

2.26 in his…: Heb. before him

KJB-1611 [fn]For God giueth to a man that is good in his sight, wisedome, and knowledge, and ioy: but to the sinner hee giueth traueile, to gather and to heape vp that he may giue to him that is good before God: This also is vanitie and vexation of spirit.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

2:26 Hebr. before him.

Bshps No Bshps ECC book available

Gnva Surely to a man that is good in his sight, God giueth wisdome, and knowledge, and ioy: but to the sinner he giueth paine, to gather, and to heape to giue to him that is good before God: this is also vanitie, and vexation of the spirit.
(Surely to a man that is good in his sight, God giveth/gives wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth/gives pain, to gather, and to heap to give to him that is good before God: this is also vanity, and vexation/frustration of the spirit. )

Cvdl No Cvdl ECC book available

Wycl No Wycl ECC book available

Luth No Luth ECC book available

ClVg Homini bono in conspectu suo dedit Deus sapientiam, et scientiam, et lætitiam; peccatori autem dedit afflictionem et curam superfluam, ut addat, et congreget, et tradat ei qui placuit Deo; sed et hoc vanitas est, et cassa sollicitudo mentis.][fn]
(Man good in/into/on in_sight his_own he_gave God wisdom, and knowledge, and happiness; sinner however he_gave affliction and care superfluous, as he_adds, and gather, and to_deliver to_him who it_pleased to_God; but and this vanity it_is, and nonsense/empty anxiety of_the_mind.] )

2.26 Homini bono. ID. Corrigenti mores suos, etc., usque ad et spiritus præsumptione composita esse.

2.26 Man good. ID. Corrigenti mores his_own, etc., until to and spirit beforesumptione composita esse.

RP-GNT No RP-GNT ECC book available

UTN uW Translation Notes:

(Occurrence 0) so that he may give it away to someone who pleases God

(Some words not found in UHB: that/for/because/then/when to/for=ʼĀdām/humankind who,pleases in,sight_of,his he/it_gave wisdom and,knowledge and,joy and,to_the,sinner he/it_gave task of,gathering and,to,collecting to,give to,pleasing to=(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the=ʼElohīm also/yet this Abel and,chasing_of wind )

Possible meanings for the word he are: (1) God or (2) the sinner. This also can be translated without making it clear who it is that gives the things that the sinner stored. Alternate translation: “so that the one who pleases God may have it”

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

(Occurrence 0) vapor … an attempt to shepherd the wind

These two phrases are both metaphors that emphasize the idea of things being useless and futile.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

(Occurrence 0) vapor

“mist.” The author speaks of useless and meaningless things as if they were “vapor.” See how you translated this in [Ecclesiastes 1:14](../01/14.md). Alternate translation: “as useless as vapor” or “meaningless”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

(Occurrence 0) an attempt to shepherd the wind

The author speaks of everything that people do as being useless as if they were trying to control the wind. See how you translated this in [Ecclesiastes 1:14](../01/14.md). Alternate translation: “are as useless as trying to control the wind”

Parallel ECC 2:26