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Limitations of Human Wisdom

16 When I tried[a] to gain[b] wisdom
and to observe the activity[c] on earth—
even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night[d]
17 then I discerned all that God has done:[e]
No one really comprehends what happens[f] on earth.[g]
Despite all human[h] efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp[i] it.[j]
Even if[k] a wise person claimed[l] that he understood,
he would not really comprehend[m] it.[n]

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 8:16 tn Heb “I applied my heart.”
  2. Ecclesiastes 8:16 tn Heb “to know.”
  3. Ecclesiastes 8:16 tn Heb “and to see the business which is done.”
  4. Ecclesiastes 8:16 tn Heb “for no one sees sleep with their eyes either day or night.” The construction גַםכִּי (ki gam) expresses a concessive sense: “even though” (e.g., Ps 23:4; Prov 22:6; Eccl 4:14; Isa 1:15; Lam 3:8; Hos 8:10; 9:16); cf. HALOT 196 s.v. גַּם 9; BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 6; 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c.
  5. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “all the work of God.”
  6. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “the work that is done.”
  7. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “under the sun.”
  8. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “his”; the referent (man, in a generic sense) has been specified in the translation as the adjective “human” for clarity.
  9. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “find.”
  10. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
  11. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The particle אִם (ʾim, “even if”) introduces the protasis in a real conditional clause (“If a wise man…”); see IBHS 636-37 §38.2d; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 74, §453.
  12. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The imperfect tense verb יֹאמַר (yoʾmar, “to say”) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility (see IBHS 508 §31.4e; R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31, §169).
  13. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn Heb “he cannot find”; or “he does not find.”
  14. Ecclesiastes 8:17 tn The term “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is an implied direct object and has been supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.