2.9-11 is a brief passage in which Qoheleth sets out a summary of his achievements and what they meant for him. An additional reason for highlighting this passage is that with verse 11 we arrive at not only the conclusion of this first subsection of chapter 2, but also at a significant point in the structure of the book.

In verse 11 we read Qoheleth’s first response to the key question put in 1.3. There he asked about “lasting benefit,” and in 2.11 he will finally answer that question with the words “there is no lasting benefit.” Having arrived at that conclusion Qoheleth will offer some further examples before giving his advice in verse 24, which is based on his conclusion in verse 11.

Verse 9 opens this summary with the conjunction translated So in Revised Standard Version and “Yes” in Good News Translation. Both are attempts to show the close connection between this section and what has gone before: verses 9-11 rest on verses 1-8. Translators should use an appropriate marker to help readers make this connection.

With the words I became great, Qoheleth takes us back to what he said in verse 4. There are also connections back to the other summary in 1.16, where both verbs “be great” and “surpass” were found. The double expression I became great and surpassed adds weight to his claim that he was the most significant person who ever lived in Jerusalem.

All who were before me in Jerusalem is an expression used already in 1.16 and 2.7. In translation we can say “So in this way I became greater than any other person in Jerusalem had ever been.” The mention of Jerusalem may mean the city itself, in which case he presumably refers to himself as the greatest king ever to live in Jerusalem. Alternatively he may be using the term to refer to the entire nation of Israel. If the latter, then we can say “I became the most powerful person ever known in Israel.”

Also my wisdom remained with me: Qoheleth reminds his readers again that all he did was for the purpose of testing life. He says literally “my wisdom stood by me.” This is the same assurance he gave in verse 3. Thus Qoheleth followed strictly the rules and principles that governed the way sages approached every question or problem. It follows that his success was also due to following these principles. Thus he claims “Furthermore I relied on wisdom entirely” or “Everything I did was based on wise methods.” When Living Bible says he remained “clear-eyed,” it is not obvious that Qoheleth means he followed the established methods of the wise men. It is best not to follow the Living Bible example.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .