Logos Bible Study

Ecclesiastes 3:12–13

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Enjoy Life in the Present

3:12I have concluded21 that there is nothing better for people22

than23 to be happy and to enjoy

themselves24 as long as they live,

3:13and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,

for these things25 are a gift from God.

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Footnotes

  1. 21 Heb “I know.”
  2. 22 Heb “for them”; the referent (people, i.e., mankind) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  3. 23 Qoheleth uses the exceptive particle אִם … כִּי (ki …’ im, “except”) to identify the only exception to the futility within man’s life ( 474 כִּי 2).
  4. 24 Heb “to do good.” The phrase לַעֲשׂוֹת טוֹב (la’asot tov) functions idiomatically for “to experience [or see] happiness [or joy].” The verb עָשַׂה (’asah) probably denotes “to acquire; to obtain” ( 795 עָשַׂה II.7), and טוֹב (tov) means “good; pleasure; happiness,” e.g., Eccl 2:24; 3:13; 5:17 ( 375 טוֹב 1).
  5. 25 Heb “for it.” The referent of the 3rd person feminine singular independent person pronoun (“it”) is probably the preceding statement: “to eat, drink, and find satisfaction.” This would be an example of an anacoluthon ( §167.b). Thus the present translation uses “these things” to indicate the reference back to the preceding.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the good life. It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts.

NLTNew Living Translation

So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

So I realized that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy themselves during their lives. And for anyone to eat and drink, that is, to enjoy the fruit of all his toil, this also is a gift of God.

KJV 1900King James Version

I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.