The opening phrase I said in my heart marks this verse as the second possible reaction to the situation described in verse 16. It should hardly surprise us that there may be two different responses to a given situation, and wisdom writers often made plain that depending on circumstances their advice could change. What is right and proper in one setting may not be right in another. If we can classify verse 17 as the standard, or orthodox, response to the problem of injustice, then this verse may be called “Qoheleth’s alternative response.” Both responses are legitimate.
Though it reflects the Hebrew, Revised Standard Version‘s translation presents an awkward structure in English. The translator can move with regard to the sons of men to initial position, if it will make the translation more natural: “Considering [the fate of] human beings, I decided….” For sons of men see 3.10.
Before going on, some important matters of structure and meaning will concern us here. The phrase with regard to (or, “concerning”) is followed by two infinitives, each expressing purpose. The first (Revised Standard Version testing) speaks of sorting through various items to find what you want. Although it is an infinitive, it carries finite verb meaning, with God as its subject. The second infinitive (to show) also contains the idea of examining (we have explored this use of its root, “see,” in this book already). The problem with this second infinitive is that it is an indicative form, in which case “God” also appears to be its subject. This would be an apparent contradiction, however, because the following verses indicate that God intends that people should see for themselves how much like the animals they are. So it is not God who sees, but people. This suggests that we should interpret “see” as being in its causative form, “cause to see”; hence we shall take the second infinitive as “to show them,” just as Revised Standard Version and other translations have done.
A meaningful translation of this verse is not a simple task. How can the situation described in verse 16 constitute a test for human beings? How does injustice in the legal process indicate that people will die as other creatures do? How do we translate testing? It is clear from what Qoheleth says that humanity has failed to live by God’s standards of justice and righteousness. In reflecting on this failure we are shown, or it is demonstrated for us, that we are not really any better than other creatures. Qoheleth thinks that people can act with justice toward each other, and when they do, human beings are actually seen to be higher beings than the animals. Lack of justice, on the other hand, shows we are no higher than they are. So “see” and “test” are close in meaning in this case. A suggested translation is “God leads us to see that…” or “God thereby demonstrates to us that….”
That they are but beasts means that human beings are no better or higher than beasts. So in translation we can say “they are no different than animals,” or as Good News Translation puts it inclusively, “we are not better than animals.” The Hebrew actually uses a preposition that can mean “like”: “they are [just] like animals.” We must wait until verse 19 to see what is the basis of this comparison. There we learn that both human beings and animals are mortal. It is probably wise, though, to leave the explanation of the comparison to the next verse. Jerusalem Bible “… and expose them for the brute beasts they are to each other” seems to go far beyond the meaning of the text.
Two models for translation:
• I thought to myself: as for us human beings, God tests us to show us we are no different than animals.
• As far as human beings are concerned, I decided that God is testing them to demonstrate that they are no better than animals.
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 .