ECC 5:18 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not necessarily natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for Bible-translators and others doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still early looks into the drafted texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal Speaker(s)=Narrator (All still tentative.)

5:17 Note: KJB: Eccl.5.18

5:17 OSHB variant note: חי/ו: (x-qere) ’חַיָּ֛י/ו’: lemma=2416 e n=0.0.0 morph=HNcmpc/Sp3ms id=21yrH חַיָּ֛י/ו

5:17 OSHB note: Marks a place where we agree with BHQ against BHS in reading L.

5:17 OSHB note: We have abandoned or added a ketib/qere relative to BHS. In doing this we agree with L against BHS.

Key: khaki:verbs.
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 (ECC 5:17) Ἰδοὺ, εἶδον ἐγὼ ἀγαθὸν, ὅ ἐστι καλὸν, τοῦ φαγεῖν καὶ τοῦ πιεῖν καὶ τοῦ ἰδεῖν ἀγαθωσύνην ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ, ᾧ ἐὰν μοχθῇ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον ἀριθμὸν ἡμερῶν ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ὧν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι αὐτὸ μερὶς αὐτοῦ.
(Idou, eidon egō agathon, ho esti kalon, tou fagein kai tou piein kai tou idein agathōsunaʸn en panti moⱪthōi autou, hō ean moⱪthaʸ hupo ton haʸlion arithmon haʸmerōn zōaʸs autou hōn edōken autōi ho Theos, hoti auto meris autou.)

BrTr (ECC 5:17) Behold, I have seen good, that it is a fine thing for a man to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labour in which he may labour under the sun, all the number of the days of his life which God has given to him: for it is his portion.

ULT ⇔ Look, what I, I, have seen, is good: That, it is beautiful to eat and to drink and to see good in all his toil that he will toil under the sun, during the number of the days of his life that the God has given to him, for it, is his portion.

UST ⇔ Now, pay attention! I have observed how beautiful life can be when people merely enjoy the food and drink that they have and allow themselves to feel some satisfying happiness in their hard work. People can do this only while they are alive, during the brief span of life that God has allotted to them as his gift—no more and no less.

BSB & MSB Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

OEB No OEB ECC 5:18 book available

WEBBE & WMBB Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour, in which he labours under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.

NET I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people:
⇔ to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth
⇔ during the few days of their life which God has given them,
⇔ for this is their reward.

LSV Behold, that which I have seen: [It is] good, because beautiful, to eat, and to drink, and to see good in all one’s labor that he labors at under the sun, the number of the days of his life that God has given to him, for it [is] his portion.

FBV But I observed that what is good and right is to eat, drink, and to find enjoyment in the work God gives us here in this life. This is God's gift to us.

T4T So, the best thing for people to do here on the earth during the few years that God allows them to be alive is to eat and drink and to enjoy their work, because those are the things that God has given to them.

LEB ¶ Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and _⌊to enjoy_⌋[fn] all the fruit of the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him—for this is his lot.[fn]

5:18 Literally “to see goodness”

5:18 Or “fate”

BBE This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.

Moff Here is what I find now to be right and good for man--to eat and drink and to be happy as he toils on at his task under the sun, during the few days that God gives him to five.

JPS (ECC 5:17) (5-16) All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much vexation and sickness and wrath.

ASV Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.

DRA (ECC 5:17) This therefore hath seemed good to me, that a man should eat and drink, and enjoy the fruit of his labour, wherewith he hath laboured under the sun, all the days of his life, which God hath given him: and this is his portion.

YLT Lo, that which I have seen: [It is] good, because beautiful, to eat, and to drink, and to see good in all one's labour that he laboureth at under the sun, the number of the days of his life that God hath given to him, for it [is] his portion.

Drby Behold what I have seen good and comely: [it is] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour wherewith [man] laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which [fn]God hath given him: for that is his portion.

5.18 Elohim

RV Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour, wherein he laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.
(Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour, wherein he laboureth/labours under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath/has given him: for this is his portion.)

SLT Behold, what I saw: good, which is beautiful to eat and to drink, and to see good in all his labor that he will labor under the sun the number of the days of his life, which God gave to him; for this his portion.

Wbstr Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

KJB-1769 ¶ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.[fn][fn]
(¶ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh/takes under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth/gives him: for it is his portion.)

5.18 it is good…: Heb. there is a good which is comely, etc

5.18 all the days: Heb. the number of the days

KJB-1611 ¶ [fn][fn]Behold that which I haue seene: It is good and comely for one to eate and to drinke, and to enioy the good of all his labour that he taketh vnder the sunne, all the dayes of his life, which God giueth him: for it is his portion.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from marking of added words (and possibly capitalisation and punctuation and footnotes))

5:18 Heb. there is a good which is comely, &c.

5:18 Heb. the number of the dayes.

Bshps Therfore me thinke it a better and a fayrer thyng, a man to eate and drynke, and to be refresshed of all his labour that he taketh vnder the sunne, all the dayes of his lyfe which God geueth him: for this is his portion.
(Therefore me think it a better and a fairer thing, a man to eat and drink, and to be refreshed of all his labour that he taketh/takes under the sun, all the days of his life which God giveth/gives him: for this is his portion.)

Gnva Also to euery man to whom God hath giuen riches and treasures, and giueth him power to eate thereof, and to take his part, and to enioy his labour: this is the gift of God.
(Also to every man to whom God hath/has given riches and treasures, and giveth/gives him power to eat thereof, and to take his part, and to enjoy his labour: this is the gift of God.)

Cvdl Therfore me thinke it a better and a fayrer thinge, a man to eate and drynke, and to be refreshed of all his laboure, yt he taketh vnder the Sonne all the dayes of his life which God geueth him, for this is his porcion.
(Therefore me think it a better and a fairer thing, a man to eat and drink, and to be refreshed of all his labour, it he taketh/takes under the sun all the days of his life which God giveth/gives him, for this is his portion.)

Wycl (ECC 5:17) Therfor this semyde good to me, that a man ete, and drynke, and vse gladnesse of his trauel, in which he trauelide vndir the sunne, in the noumbre of daies of his lijf, which God yaf to hym; and this is his part.
(Therefore this seemed good to me, that a man eat, and drink, and use gladness of his travel, in which he travelled under the sun, in the number of days of his life, which God gave to him; and this is his part.)

Luth (ECC 5:17) So sehe ich nun das für gut an, daß es fein sei, wenn man isset und trinket und gutes Muts ist in aller Arbeit, die einer tut unter der Sonne sein Leben lang, das ihm GOtt gibt; denn das ist sein Teil.
(So see I now the for/in_favour_of good to/along, that it fine be, if/when man eating and drinking and goods courage/heart/spirits is in all work/job, the one/a does under the/of_the sun be life long, the him God gives; because/than the is be part/portion.)

ClVg (ECC 5:17) [Hoc itaque visum est mihi bonum, ut comedat quis et bibat, et fruatur lætitia ex labore suo quo laboravit ipse sub sole, numero dierum vitæ suæ quos dedit ei Deus; et hæc est pars illius.[fn]
([This therefore sight(n) it_is to_me good, as to_eat who/any and drink, and enjoys joy from with_hard_work his_own where worked_hard exactly_that/himself under sole, number days of_life his/her_own(pl) which he_gave to_him God; and these_things it_is part of_that.)

5.17 Hoc itaque mihi visum est bonum, etc. Melius dicit esse, etc., usque ad quam inspirat Dei gratia in adjuvando bona opera.

5.17 This therefore to_me sight(n) it_is good, etc. Better he_says to_be, etc., until to how inspires of_God grace in/into/on helping good(s) works.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

הִנֵּ֞ה

see/lo/see!

Solomon is using the term Look to focus his listeners’ attention on what he is about to say. Your language may have a comparable expression that you can use in your translation. Alternate translation: [Indeed]

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

רָאִ֣יתִי אָ֗נִי

seen I

Solomon is stating the pronoun I separately, even though the verb translated as have seen already includes this meaning. He is doing that to emphasize that this is his own personal observation. If a speaker of your language would use an explicit pronoun for the same purpose, you may want to use that construction in your translation. If not, your language may have other ways of showing the meaning here. Alternate translation: [I myself have seen]

Note 3 topic: writing-poetry

עֲמָל֣⁠וֹ שֶׁ⁠יַּעֲמֹ֣ל

toil_of,his which,someone_will_toil

Solomon is using a construction in which a verb and its object come from the same root. You may be able to use the same construction in your language to express the meaning here. Alternatively, your language may have another way of saying this.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

תַּֽחַת הַ⁠שֶּׁ֗מֶשׁ

under the,sun

See how you translated the similar expression in [5:13](../05/13.md).

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

מִסְפַּ֧ר יְמֵי חי⁠ו

few_of days_of ,his

Here, the days of his life represents “his lifetime.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: [throughout his life]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

מִסְפַּ֧ר יְמֵי חי⁠ו

few_of days_of ,his

Solomon is using this possessive form to mean the days that make up his life. It may be helpful to clarify this for your readers. Alternate translation: [during all the days that he lives]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

חֶלְקֽ⁠וֹ

portion_of,[is]_his

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of portion, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [what God has given him]

Note 8 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

אֲשֶׁר יָפֶ֣ה לֶֽ⁠אֶכוֹל וְ֠⁠לִ⁠שְׁתּוֹת וְ⁠לִ⁠רְא֨וֹת טוֹבָ֜ה בְּ⁠כָל עֲמָל֣⁠וֹ & כִּי ה֥וּא חֶלְקֽ⁠וֹ

which/who which/who fitting [is]_to,eat and,to,drink and,to,see enjoyment in=all toil_of,his & that/for/because/then/when he/it portion_of,[is]_his

The word translated as for indicates that what follows is a reason for what came before. Use a connector in your language that makes it clear that what follows is a reason for what came before. Alternate translation: [That it is beautiful to eat and to drink and to see good in all his toil … because it is his portion]

Parallel ECC 5:18