Ecclesiastes 10:19

Footnotes

1. 55 Heb “bread.” The term לֶחֶם (lekhem) is used literally of “bread” and figuratively (i.e., by metonymy) for a “feast” ( 536–37 לֶחֶם). suggests that עֹשִׂיה לֶחֶם (’osih lekhem) in Eccl 10:19 means “make a feast” ( 537 לֶחֶם 1.a). This obscure line has occasioned numerous proposals: “a feast is made for laughter” (, , ); “feasts are made for laughter” (); “men feast for merrymaking” (); “men prepare a meal for enjoyment” (); “the table has its pleasures” (); “they [i.e., rulers of v. 16] make a banquet for revelry” (); “people prepare a banquet for enjoyment” (); “for laughter they make bread and wine, that the living may feast” (); “bread is made for laughter” (); “bread [and oil] call forth merriment” ().
2. 56 The subject of the verb is not specified. When active verbs have an unspecified subject, they are often used in a passive sense: “Bread [feasts] are made.…”
3. 57 Heb “and wine gladdens life.”
4. 58 Or “and [they think that] money is the answer for everything.”