The high point of the introduction to this unit comes with this verse. It contains the two key verbs rejoice and remember. The verse is linked with verse 7 by the introductory ki, which can indicate a reason or an assertion. The latter is more likely in this context, so we may use some affirming word such as “Yes” or “Indeed.” Another possibility is to introduce the verse with a conjunction like “So” or “Thus.”

For if a man lives many years is a conditional statement followed by its consequence, let him rejoice in them all. There are two types of conditionals: those indicating events that actually happen, and those indicating events that will never happen. Here we have a conditional for an event that really happens: many people will live many years. This being the case, Qoheleth says, these people should enjoy all the years God gives them. If a conditional form is retained in the translation, translators should take care to use verb forms and conjunctions associated with the kind of conditional for an event that really happens. Instead of a conditional if, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New International Version, and Revised English Bible all use “however” as the opening conjunction, meaning “no matter how many”: “However many years you live, enjoy them all” (New Jerusalem Bible). New Jerusalem Bible and Contemporary English Version render the clause emphatically: “Even if you live to a ripe old age, you should try to enjoy life each day” (Contemporary English Version). However, in some languages it will be more natural to use a “when” clause: “When a person lives….”

In Hebrew this clause is introduced by a compound particle ki ʿim, which has another function. It occurs with verbs that express a wish or a command. This usage makes good sense here. We may also translate “Let a man live for many years…” or “May he live….”

A man can be rendered as “people,” “a person,” “anyone,” since the Hebrew term is the general term for all humanity. Years and also the word days have significance in this unit, marking one of the main themes, the passage of time. However, it is not vital that we preserve this idiom in translation. The point is to suggest what should happen if anyone were to live a long time. In the original text the phrase many years is placed before the verb and its subject, indicating that it carries the emphasis. Good News Translation “No matter how long you live” provides a good model because it avoids the problems of a conditional or “if” clause and indicates that enjoyment of life is not only for those who live a long time.

Let him rejoice in them all: rejoice is the first of two verbs that introduce the themes of this subsection. Recall how important this verb is in the earlier calls to enjoyment, where Qoheleth offers his main advice about coping with this world (see comments beginning with 2.1-2). The verb form here expresses a wish or command and can be rendered as “let him enjoy,” or “he should enjoy.” Though Good News Translation translates “Be grateful for,” it seems particularly important to use the same phrasing for “enjoy” that is used elsewhere in the translation. Although it is presented in somewhat different terms, this is the same call to enjoyment found elsewhere. Significantly, however, this is the last time we will meet this call.

In them all refers back to the many years of a person’s life. The preposition translated in (Revised Standard Version) can also mean “throughout,” emphasizing the unceasing nature of enjoyment. All dimensions of life, its joys and sorrows, are to be approached positively.

As the following verses are all in the second person, directly addressing the young person, it is possible to use a second person pronoun from this point on.

For a more traditional translation we may say:

• When a person has a long life, he should enjoy every minute of it.

• However many years you live, you should seek to enjoy them all.

However, if we follow the second interpretation, we can say:

• Let a person live a long time, let him enjoy all of life.

• May people live many years and enjoy them all.

But let him remember: the conjunctive but opens this clause, reminding readers that rejoicing is to be balanced by another activity, remembering. The translator may use an expression like “but on the other hand, …” or “yet….” Remember identifies the second theme for this section. To remember can mean recalling the past, but the Hebrew term does not always carry that sense of looking back into the past; it can also mean “reflect on the future,” “bear in mind,” “do not forget,” or even “think about.” Here again, whatever we use to render the verb remember should be echoed in the opening verse of chapter 12, where this theme is developed.

As noted above, a change in person can be made, if it is more natural in the translator’s language. Thus second person pronouns can be used throughout. Bible en français courant retains the third person in the first part of the verse but translates here “Let us remember….” This is also acceptable.

That the days of darkness will be many: the phrase days of darkness can have several different interpretations. It can refer to difficult times of any type (see 11.2), but particularly to those of old age. This would be somewhat odd, however, since Qoheleth would then be suggesting that everyone will have a long life as an elderly person. Alternatively it can be a direct reference to death. The contrast between light and darkness suggests that here darkness describes the state of death itself. There is a certain irony in these lines; life is linked with “years,” while death, a much longer period, is linked with “days.” Many does not suggest that death’s days have limits and will soon come to an end. We can give its meaning by an adjective such as “permanent.”

For translation of this clause we can have:

• But do not forget, death is permanent.

• Keep in mind that you will be dead for ever.

• … remember that you will be dead much longer (Good News Translation).

All that comes is vanity: in 1.11 the verb “[will] be” was used in a manner similar to the present comes. Here we can also say “will happen.” In the context it seems obvious that Qoheleth is making reference to death and what lies beyond. It is conceivable that All includes whatever happens between the present moment and death, but it clearly includes what happens after we die. New Jerusalem Bible translates “the future,” which is one possible rendering. As for vanity, we are working in this Handbook with the understanding that it refers to those aspects of human life and experience that cannot be explained. Thus Qoheleth does not mean that after death there is “nothing” (so Good News Translation, “There is nothing at all to look forward to”). He rather means that we cannot know what happens there, so it is all a deep mystery, hevel. (Compare 3.21; 6.12; and other places.)

We can translate the second half of the verse as follows:

• … but he should always bear in mind that death is longer than life! Everything that happens after that is unknown [or, a mystery].

• yet at the same time remember that the days of death are longer than the years of your life! And what comes after death remains a mystery.

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 .