Remember: see comments on 11.8. We note that this is not asking us to recall something from the past, but to “think about” a particular matter.

Revised Standard Version adds the word also to the text, possibly to render the Hebrew conjunction that introduces this verse. It emphasizes the fact that remembering is the second theme (the first, “rejoice,” occurs in 11.9). If the translator wants to highlight this fact, a similar particle can be added, or an introductory “and” can be included.

Your Creator is the object of the imperative Remember. The form here is plural (literally “those who created you”), and although it occurs in that form in Job 35.10 and Psa 149.2, some commentators think the text as we have it may have been damaged in transmission. They suggest “your well,” a possible reference to the person’s wife (as it is in Pro 5.15), or else “your grave” or “your vigor.” The interpretation “your grave” is mentioned in a footnote in Good News Translation. The fact that in wisdom writing God is often referred to as the Creator, and that creation is a prominent notion in wisdom literature and in Qoheleth, suggests the present Hebrew text is correct. The Hebrew plural form ʾelohim, “God,” is similar to the plural of the Hebrew for Creator. New Revised Standard Version uses lower case, “creator,” suggesting that it may not be a reference to God but to a more general act of creation. We suggest following Revised Standard Version here, retaining “Creator.” We may also say “the One who created you.”

In the days of your youth: see comments on 11.9. The adverbial phrase tells young people not to delay thinking about this important issue.

Revised Standard Version reflects the original order in Hebrew, with time clauses occurring at the end of the sentence. Of course this order can be changed if necessary.

Translation possibilities are:

• While you are still young, think about the One who created you.

• While you are still young, remember your Creator.

Before the evil days come is the first of three “before” clauses marking the divisions in this part of the text. The others are found in verses 2 and 6. The adverbial phrase describes the “time until” something happens. Some languages will find it difficult to have so many time clauses at the end of a sentence. So when we translate it may be necessary to bring these clauses forward to the beginning of the verse, thus leaving the main point till the end: “While you are still young, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh, when you will say ‘I have no pleasure in them,’ [before all this happens] remember your Creator.”

The evil days: throughout this book Qoheleth has consistently used the adjective translated evil to refer to something that is best described as painful or difficult to accept. Good News Translation here chooses “dismal,” and New Revised Standard Version suggests “days of trouble.” We note that scholarly opinion is divided over the interpretation of this phrase. Some see a reference to difficulties in general, or to the difficulties related to old age in particular. The verse goes on to say, for example, that it is a time when a person no longer finds pleasure. On the other hand there are several reasons for interpreting this phrase in another way. In the introductory verse (11.7) Qoheleth associates the word “good” with life, so it is likely that here evil points to death. We note that, when we first encounter the verb “remember” (verse 8), it is in the context of “days of darkness,” which we have also interpreted as a reference to death. In this context, then, Qoheleth may be making a reference to death. A third possibility is that the phrase has a wider meaning, indicating both old age and what old age leads up to, namely, death. How we interpret this verse influences how we interpret those that follow, so we need to translate with the whole passage in view.

There are several possibilities open for translators. We can translate evil as we have in other contexts, “distressing,” “painful,” or “grievous,” much as Good News Translation has done: “before those dismal days and years come….” Or we can try to highlight the theme of this passage by referring directly to death: “before the grievous time, our death, comes.” We can also translate more literally, with a note indicating that death seems to be the meaning of “days of evil.” New Jerusalem Bible seems to refer to death without stating it precisely: “before those days of sorrow come….”

And the years draw nigh: as in the above reference to days, here years is another way of speaking about an extended period of time. Note how in 11.8, which sets out the theme developed in 12.1-7, the terms “days” and “years” are prominent. Draw nigh, or “come close,” means exactly the same as come in the previous clause.

Some languages may find the reference to both days and years to be too repetitive. In such cases it may be more natural to use a general word like “time.” Good News Translation combines the two phrases above and says “before those dismal days and years come.” This is a possible model.

When you will say, “…”: as we have seen (1.16; 2.1; and other places), the verb say does not always mean “speak about”; it can also mean “think” or “recognize,” as it seems to here.

I have no pleasure in them translates the clause “there is no pleasure to [or, for] me in them.” In them refers to the noun years earlier in the sentence. Here again there are several possibilities for interpretation. Taken in a general way the clause can simply mean the person has arrived at a stage in life where pleasure is no longer felt or relished. Good News Translation and Bible en français courant take this view, translating “when you will say, ‘I don’t enjoy life,’ ” or “… ‘I don’t have any pleasure in living.’ ” Following these models it is unnecessary to translate “in them,” as its sense is included in the idioms used.

However, as we study how Qoheleth uses the term translated pleasure, we note that he often uses it to mean “thing,” or “matter,” having to do with the appropriateness of an action and its timing (3.1, 7; 8.6). If the overall context of this passage is death, this phrase could mean that by the time death comes, it is too late to remember the Creator. It would speak then of lost opportunity. We might say “there is no time [or, opportunity] left to do anything.” Alternatively, keeping in mind the main theme of death, this clause may mean that in Sheol (rather than in the declining years) there is no “pleasure.”

A possible translation for this final clause is “… and the time comes near when you will think, ‘I will have no more pleasure’ ” or “and the time approaches when you recognize that nothing remains for you.”

Models for the entire verse include:

• While you are young, think about the One who created you, before the grievous time—the time of death—comes, before the time when you think “I have no more pleasure.”

• Remember your Creator while you are still young. Do this before the painful time comes when you realize there is no more time left for pleasure.

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 .