I have seen carries Qoheleth’s usual sense of observation for the purpose of examination. It means “I have looked into the matter carefully….”

The business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with: the basic ideas found in this verse have been commented on in 1.13. However, there “business” was something considered “unhappy.” The context here does not require that same evaluation. Here its meaning is closer to “the task of living responsibly in an orderly world.” The Hebrew expression business … to be busy with is an idiomatic one. Hebrew frequently uses this compound form of noun plus its verbal root. We can render the sense as “the task that God has given.” The verb has given can indicate God assigning tasks to people or allowing them to do them.

The sons of men is, of course, a general term for human beings. “All people” or “all of us” catches its meaning. Some languages, especially in Africa, use the expression “sons of men” or “sons of Adam” when referring to human weakness or mortality. In these languages a literal translation can be quite effective, since the sense will be the same as in the Hebrew context. Alternatively we can say “us mortals” and retain the flavor of the expression. See comments on 1.13.

Some models for translation are:

• I have carefully examined the task God has given to us mortals.

• I have observed what matters God allows people to spend their lives doing.

• I have noted what kinds of things God assigns people to do.

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 .