Comments | biblical_hebrew: Question on Passage from Koheleth

lhynard in biblical_hebrew

Question on Passage from Koheleth

Apr 27, 2006 02:18

What do you think the Hebrew for this text is implying? That is, what unwritten adjective is understood to come before adham and ishah. It does not make any sense to say that one has not found a woman among a thousand women. Koheleth must mean a particular kind of women was not found.

(The translation here is ESV.)Ecclesiastes 3:27Behold, this is ( Read more... )

translation_questions

Comments 10

jeltzz April 27 2006, 07:47:01 UTC

My natural translation instinct would be to supply 'upright' from verse 29.

pennywren April 27 2006, 08:34:46 UTC

That was my immediate thought too.

lhynard April 27 2006, 15:34:23 UTC

That's what others seem to do, too.

mathiasroesel April 27 2006, 10:05:27 UTC

First, this is 7:27ff. Then, this is all about woman. You have to start from verse 26 in order to understand what Kohelet is trying to say. No further adjectives are needed ( ... )

lhynard April 27 2006, 15:43:00 UTC

I am aware that Adham is used here, but I don't see how that clears things up. I still don't get what you think Koheleth is trying to say. I like the translation, "Among thousand I may have found one Adam, but it was not a woman," but I still do not see how anything is more clear. What is significant about finding an adham? And among a thousand whats?

mathiasroesel April 27 2006, 18:05:41 UTC

Okay, I'm not one of those in-the-know. I'm just reading. From verse 26 on Kohelet ponders on woman. She is harder than death. Why? Because she has innumerbable tricks and cunning and stuff. As opposed to that, in the beginning it was not so (adam rishon, Gen 1:26ff). God made Adam upright and straight, God made Adam male and female. Kohelet yearns to find Adam. But among thousand sons and daughters of Adam, if Kohelet finds one Adam, it will not be a woman. - Did I make my thoughts on this a little clearer?

lhynard April 27 2006, 18:47:04 UTC

yes, thanks

Taking what you said, I would rephrase it this way.

Koheleth was searching for the ideal human. Among a thousand humans, he only found one ideal human, and that human was not a female.

Now, I was just thinking about how ish also refers to the idea of wife. Maybe it is this:

A wife whose heart is a trap is worse than death.
I sought for the ideal human. I found one among a thousand humans, but I never found an ideal human to be my wife.

Probably not, but just another idea to throw around.

Thread 7