Ecclesiastes 9:1

Everyone Will Die

9:1 So I reflected on all this,1 attempting to clear2 it all up.

I concluded that3 the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;

whether a person will be loved or hated4—

no one knows what lies ahead.5

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1	tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”
2	tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction + 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	tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
4	tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”
5	tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”