Having outlined briefly the situation where he observes a problem, Qoheleth now gives the first of two possible responses.

I said in my heart is a clause we have met already in 2.1, 15. See comments there. Here it serves as the marker for the first of the two responses.

God will judge the righteous and the wicked: in this verse we meet the three key terms again, literally “The righteous and the wicked God will judge.” When confronted by evil in society, what will God do? He will act to bring down the unjust. This is the message that we associate especially with the prophets. Qoheleth agrees. Here the Hebrew puts the objects at the beginning of the verse for emphasis. This emphasis may be achieved in some languages in the same way or by inserting a word like “both.” Both groups will have to face divine judgment, so “those who do wrong” and “those who do right” will have their deeds and life evaluated. Notice how “judgment” is not a negative word, as both good and bad will have to face it. In the case of the good they will be vindicated; only the evil will face punishment after they have been judged. This reminds us that in translation we need to avoid a word for judge which suggests that judgment is “punishment” and therefore only for those who are evil. We can even say something like “fair evaluation” or “an impartial look at the case.” A translation like “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked fairly” may be appropriate.

The terms righteous and wicked are adjectives used as nouns, so they describe “people who obey the Law” and “people who disobey it.” As we noted earlier, wisdom writers generally divided the world into two kinds of people.

God will judge states a fact common throughout the Old Testament that, although there are human agents for bringing justice (priests, prophets, and judges), ultimately it is God who upholds justice, especially when his human agents fail. Compare Job’s confidence in God’s justice in Job 27.13-23. Here judge means to “decide the fate of good and evil people.”

For he has appointed a time for every matter indicates how this section is related to the context. It reminds us that the poem in verses 1-8 serves as the background against which the various issues of this chapter should be interpreted. For is an important marker, pointing us directly to the basis of Qoheleth’s claim about God’s justice. A time for every matter is taken from verse 1, so see notes there. Because God has appointed a time for every matter, we can be certain that he will restore justice.

He [God] has appointed is a strong phrase because it claims more than the poem itself does. In discussing the poem in verses 1-8, we noted that it used only very general expressions; we could not be certain who was acting in the various functions described there. That form of expression, of course, was deliberate, for the poem stated only general principles. Now in what follows, things are stated more clearly, and Qoheleth applies the principle from the poem to what God does. Appointed is a translation that depends on a change being made in the Hebrew text. The final word in Hebrew is the word “there” (sham). However, Revised Standard Version and most scholars think it really should be sam, “put, place,” in the sense of “appoint.” Although there is no textual support for this change, it seems very logical. It may be helpful to include a footnote at this point to suggest that this word has two possible interpretations.

And for every work: while every matter is very general, every work does at least require an agent, and to that extent there is a slight difference of meaning. However, in the present setting the agent(s) need not be identified. They may be divine or human. With these two terms Qoheleth includes every form of activity on earth. The two terms may be combined as in Good News Translation, “every thing, every action.”

One possible model for translation is:

• I realized that God will judge those who do right and those who do wrong. Because there is an appointed time for every activity and action.*

The footnote can be:
*Some people think the text says “because he [God] set a time for every activity and action.”

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 .