Having responded to the question of 6.12, Qoheleth adds to that response in verse 8. The evidence for the close relationship between this verse and verse 7 is the continuing use of ʾen “there is not.” Though in the Revised Standard Version rendering it is not obvious, the internal structure of the verse is striking. In the first part of the verse, we have three sets of clauses in which the negative marker ʾen “there is not” is followed by a noun phrase and then a prepositional phrase beginning with the Hebrew preposition b.

The final clause is also negative. The verse contains three nouns that all contain similar sounds (shallit, shilton, mishlachat), as do other words in the verse (hammaweth, “death,” milchamah, “battle,” yemallet “deliver”). Like verse 7 this verse also underlines things over which people have no control.

No man has power to retain the spirit: power is mentioned in verse 4 above as well as in 2.10; 5.19; and 6.2 (see comments on “supreme” in verse 4). Human power is limited; it has no control over the spirit. This latter noun (ruach) appears often in Qoheleth and has three possible meanings, “spirit,” “breath,” and “wind.” In view of the present context, we are justified in assuming that ruach here means “breath of life.” In what follows, Qoheleth continues to show concern for the problems raised by early death. In the parallel clause this concern is also apparent. Thus “breath of life,” “breath,” or “life” are all possible translations for spirit. This conclusion, however, is not shared by Jerusalem Bible, which translates “No man can master the wind” (New English Bible agrees with this also).

To retain the spirit means that the breath is “restrained” or “confined” within a person’s power and control, hence Revised Standard Version retain and Jerusalem Bible “master.” Qoheleth’s point is that no human being can hold onto that person’s own life. This means, in effect, that the breath of life is given and taken by some other higher power. It is that power or person that determines when we die; we are powerless to prevent our own death. There are, of course, obvious connections between this idea and the idea of our inability to “shepherd the wind” (2.17, 26), but different terms mark the two ideas.

Revised Standard Version has shortened the Hebrew, which is literally “no man has power over the spirit to retain the spirit.” Most languages will prefer the shortened form over the original. Alternatively we can use a pronoun “it” in place of the repetition of spirit. Thus “No one has power over the spirit to hold on to it.”

We can suggest the following translations:

• No human has the power to determine how long they will live.

• No human being is able to hold on to the breath of life.

Good News Translation is also a possible model:

• No one can keep himself from dying.

Or authority over the day of death is the second of the “there is not” clauses. It also features the root shlt (authority), so we can see that this clause and the previous one have essentially the same meaning. No living person has power (literally “there is no power over…”) over the day (or “moment”) of death. The word day does not indicate a twenty-four-hour period, but a time or moment. The time we are to die is determined by God (3.2). We presume that in both of these cases Qoheleth is talking about an individual’s power over one’s own life and death, not the death of someone else. This is very clear in Good News Translation “… or put off the day of his death.” If we are powerless to prevent our life-breath from leaving, then death may come at any moment despite our personal preferences and wishes.

For translation:

• … and no human is able to decide when life will end.

• … nor [have] the power to decide on the moment of their death.

There is no discharge from war: this is the third and final ʾen clause. This time Qoheleth makes the point that human power is subject to other limits as well. In war, or during the battle, soldiers are not permitted to go home. The rare noun mishlachat is difficult to define. It may have been chosen for reasons of stylistic effect, since it resembles the root sh-l-t “to have supreme authority.” If discharge means “to be released from battle,” then it does not mean the same thing as the exemption from fighting offered by Deut 20.5-8. A newly married person did not have to go to battle in the first place. Thus New American Bible “no exemption from the struggle” may not be correct. Others suggest mishlachat means “immunity” (Scott), or “control” (Gordis), the idea being that everybody is affected by the war. Discharge or “release” are probably the best terms to use. During the battle there is little hope that a soldier will be allowed to go home for a rest. Compare New English Bible “in war, no man can lay aside his arms.” The translator may find a way to make the connection between this line and the previous ones a little clearer: “no one gets permission to leave the battle [once it has started]” or “no soldier has the right to walk away from the battlefield.”

This saying appears to be an illustration, which is to say, by it Qoheleth reminds readers of a fact about war. The following clause presents another fact about life.

Nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it: this is the second of two truths. The first (above) is that no soldier is discharged until the battle is over; then this second one says that evil will never save a person. These two independent facts are set before the reader. It is the second one that is the focus of Qoheleth’s comments here.

Wickedness refers to moral evil, and although it is a noun in form, we can render it as a verbal phrase, “doing evil.” It expresses a style of living, a person’s bad character. Some versions substitute ʿosher “wealth” (New English Bible) in the Hebrew text for reshaʿ wickedness, but this is quite unnecessary. There is also no textual support for the change.

The verb in this clause means “escape” or deliver and so is similar in meaning to the verb “dismiss, release” in the previous clause. We can translate the verb as “save” or “deliver.” Thus “evil cannot save….” New Jerusalem Bible brings out this theme clearly: “wickedness is powerless to save its owner.”

The object of the verb is the noun phrase those who are given to it, or in Hebrew “its [or, his] master.” The term baʿal “master” is often used to indicate that a person is expert in doing certain things; so for example in Gen 37.19 Joseph is described as a “dreamer,” literally “a master of dreams.” The phrase those who are given to it refers to those who specialize in doing evil. Here Qoheleth’s use of irony is clearly seen. Even evil people “masters of evil”—cannot manipulate their way out of every situation. They too are powerless. It is difficult to know what these evil people wish to be delivered from. Given the context, we might think of death. But as we are not absolutely sure, this possibility should not be expressed in the translation.

We can translate the meaning in a simple manner, with clarity:

• Evil cannot save those who practice it.

• The evil person will not be saved by doing evil.

Or we can try to retain some of the irony in the text:

• Even masters of evil cannot deliver themselves [by their own evil].

The translator can also attempt to imitate the structure of the Hebrew verse:

• No one can control his own life-breath,
No one can say when he will die,
No one is dismissed when the battle’s raging,
And no evil person is saved by evil-doing.

The idea of mastery over something links closely with the previous references to power. In this we see how Qoheleth uses various means to make the point that people are very limited in the amount of power they have. Circumstances are never under our full control. Death and evil are two examples he quotes for the reader to reflect upon.

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 .