wisdom

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, Latin, and Greek that is translated as “wisdom” in English is rendered in various ways:

  • Amganad Ifugao / Tabasco Chontal: “(big) mind”
  • Bulu / Yamba: “heart-thinking”
  • Tae’: “cleverness of heart” (source for this and all above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Palauan: “bright spirit (innermost)” (source: Bratcher / Hatton)
  • Ixcatlán Mazatec: “with your best/biggest thinking” (source: Robert Bascom)
  • Noongar: dwangka-boola, lit. “ear much” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018 — see also remember)
  • Kwere “to know how to live well” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Dobel: “their ear holes are long-lasting” (in Acts 6:3) (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Gbaya: iŋa-mgbara-mɔ or “knowing-about-things” (note that in comparison to that, “knowledge” is translated as iŋa-mɔ or “knowing things”) (source: Philip Noss in The Bible Translator 2001, p. 114ff. )
  • Chichewa: nzeru, meaning both “knowledge” and “wisdom” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Uma: “clearness” (source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Kako: “heart thinking” (source: Reyburn 2002, p. 190)

In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with a hand gesture referring to God to indicate a human quality to communicate that wisdom does not originate from man but is linked to and connected with the fear of God (source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group):


“Wisdom” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )

See also wisdom (Proverbs) and knowledge.

wine

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Greek that are translated as “wine” in English is translated into Pass Valley Yali as “grape juice pressed long ago (= fermented)” or “strong water” (source: Daud Soesilo). In Guhu-Samane it is also translated as “strong water” (source: Ernest L. Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. ), in Noongar as “liquor” (verbatim: “strong water”) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Hausa as ruwan inabi or “water of grapes” (with no indication whether it’s alcoholic or not — source: Mark A. Gaddis), in sar as kasə nduú or “grape drink” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin), or in Papantla Totonac and Coyutla Totonac as “a drink like Pulque” (for “Pulque,” see here ) (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ).

In Swahili, Bible translations try to avoid local words for alcoholic drinks, because “drinking of any alcohol at all was one of the sins most denounced by early missionaries. Hence translators are uncomfortable by the occurrences of wine in the Bible. Some of the established churches which use wine prefer to see church wine as holy, and would not refer to it by the local names used for alcoholic drinks. Instead church wine is often referred to by terms borrowed from other languages, divai (from German, der Wein) or vini/mvinyo (from ltalian/Latin vino/vinum). Several translations done by Protestants have adapted the Swahili divai for ‘wine,’ while those done by Catholics use vini or mvinyo.” (Source: Rachel Konyoro in The Bible Translator 1985, p. 221ff. )

The Swahili divai was in turn borrowed by Sabaot and was turned into tifaayiik and is used as such in the Bible. Kupsabiny, on the other hand, borrowed mvinyo from Swahili and turned it into Finyonik. (Source: Iver Larsen)

In Nyamwezi, two terms are used. Malwa ga muzabibu is a kind of alcohol that people specifically use to get drunk (such as in Genesis 9:21) and ki’neneko is used for a wine made from grapes (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In some Hindi translations (such as the Common Language version, publ. 2015 ), one term (dākharasa दाखरस — grape juice) is used when that particular drink is in the focus (such as in John 2) and another term (madirā मदिरा — “alcohol” or “liquor”) when drunkenness is in the focus (such as in Eph. 5:18).

In Mandarin Chinese, the generic term jiǔ (酒) or “alcohol(ic drink)” is typically used. Exceptions are Leviticus 10:9, Numbers 6:3, Deuteronomy 29:6, Judges 13:4 et al., 1 Samuel 1:15, and Luke 1:15 where a differentiation between weak and strong alcohol is needed. The Mandarin Chinese Union Version (2010) translates that as qīngjiǔ lièjiǔ (清酒烈酒) and dànjiǔ lièjiǔ (淡酒烈酒), both in the form of a Chinese proverb and meaning “light alcohol and strong drink.” (Source: Zetzsche)

Click or tap here to see a short video clip about wine in biblical times (source: Bible Lands 2012)

See also proceeds from the vine / anything that comes from the grapevine, wine (Japanese honorifics), filled with new wine, and wine (Gen 27:28).

complete verse (Ecclesiastes 2:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ecclesiastes 2:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “As I was still searching for wisdom, I thought to make myself happy with wine. I was thinking that maybe this was a very good way in which a person might struggle/apply oneself in his life when he is still in the world for a few days.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “I tried to give myself delight by drinking wine and by embracing foolish things, even though my mind was carried along by wisdom and was desiring to find out what things are good for a person to do in the short life he has under the sky.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I tried to make- myself -happy by drinking wine. In spite of my being-wise, I tried to do foolishness. I thought that this might be the best (thing) a person can-do in his short life here on earth.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So, after thinking a lot about it, I decided to cheer myself/cause myself to be happy by drinking a lot of wine. So while I was still trying to be wise, I decided to do things that many people do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:3

The idea that we can test for what will make us happy is one we have seen in verse 1. Verse 3 explains more fully what is meant by that.

I searched with my mind: these opening words remind the reader that Qoheleth was making an intellectual investigation. The initial verb tells of spying out or exploring something. We find it used in Ezek 20.6 to describe the way God spied out and selected the Land of Canaan for Israel to live in. So Qoheleth is using his mind (or in Hebrew, his “heart”) for this study. He is anxious to avoid giving the impression that he drank wine only for the pleasure of drinking.

How to cheer my body with wine: the opening infinitive is given as “to cheer” in Revised Standard Version and “to cheer myself up with” in Good News Translation. Actually the root meaning is “attract” or “draw,” though most scholars seem to agree with an earlier view that it probably means “to stimulate” or “refresh.” This is the view the Jewish Talmud adopts.

Wine: this refers to the fermented wine made from grapes. Though this drink was common and played an important part in Jewish culture, drunkenness was condemned (see, for example, Pro 20.1; 23.20, 21, 29-35).

To assure the reader again that drinking wine was a legitimate and scientific experiment, Qoheleth adds my mind still guiding me with wisdom. True to his reputation as a wise man, he is led by wisdom. Here wisdom refers to the principles and teachings of the wisdom tradition rather than to “wisdom” in general (see further the note on “wisdom” in 1.13). Sages of all ages and nationalities followed basically the same methods. They observed life, then considered deeply the things they saw, and from this developed advice or a set of instructions to help people live for everyone’s best interest. This is how he conducted this test, Qoheleth says. The use of the participle guiding indicates that he used wisdom’s principles throughout the test. When we translate we can add the word “throughout” to make that more obvious: “throughout I followed the principles of wisdom.”

And how to lay hold on folly demonstrates how far Qoheleth went in his testing for the pleasure wine could bring. He got drunk. The conjunction and does not add new action but shows how far Qoheleth went in doing what he did. In translating this we can say “even to the point of….” “Grasping hold of folly” may seem a peculiar way to express what Qoheleth did, but it indicates that he fully experienced what folly was. Good News Translation suggests “have a good time,” but this is much too vague and does not tell us whether he thought this was a good or bad thing. If it is felt that “I got very drunk” or “I got as drunk as a fool” is too idiomatic, then we can add a footnote to indicate the literal text, or we can keep a literal translation in the text and explain its meaning in a footnote.

Till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do: again we have the verb see used with the sense of testing or experimenting, showing that Qoheleth truly wanted to know what was best for people. Good News Translation “I thought that this might be the best way…” gives the impression that he thinks he already knows what is best, and so it weakens the sense of the verb. In Hebrew this clause is presented as direct speech, “can this be good for…?” Good is here a noun form meaning “good things.” Sons of men is a collective expression that includes every human being. Thus Qoheleth is wondering “whether this was a good thing for people,” or “whether it would benefit anyone.” “It” in such a translation refers to experimenting with wine as a solution to a person’s problems. That may need to be made clear.

Under heaven during the few days of their life: the expression under heaven was explained in comments at 1.13. During the few days of their life is literally “the number of the days of their life,” so we need to ask whether Qoheleth means by this that life is short. There are occasions when the term “number” indicates an amount that can be counted. If it can be counted then it cannot be such a vast amount, and therefore it has a limit, hence “limited number.” On the other hand “number” can also express the notion of a determined or fixed number, without any restriction as to how few or many it may be. This latter meaning is similar to the sense of Exo 23.26 and the fixed number of days Israel was to remain in Egypt. This second sense would give a different translation; for example, “throughout their lives” or “throughout their allotted life span.” There is no clear evidence that Qoheleth believed that human life was short, so our translation should not leave that impression. A simple solution is to render this phrase as “throughout their lives.”

Two models for translation are:

• I tried drinking wine to the point of foolishness, all the while keeping the principles of wisdom in view. I wanted to see if this is a good thing for people to do during their time on this earth.

• I gave myself over to wine-drinking, going to the limit, yet at the same time trying to remain wise. I was trying to figure out if this activity is worthwhile for people during their lives.

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ecclesiastes 2:3

2:3a I sought to cheer my body with wine and to embrace folly—

I explored ways to make myself feel better by drinking wine. I also explored ways to do some foolish things. (God’s Word)
-or-
So I decided to drink wine to make myself happy. I wanted to understand how a fool thinks. (EASY2015)

2:3b my mind still guiding me with wisdom—

In all this I was still thinking like wise people do.
-or-
I continued to seek wisdom
-or-
But I did not want to be a fool myself. (EASY2015)

2:3c until I could see what was worthwhile for men to do

I wanted to discover what benefits people
-or-
until I could determine what was best for people to do

2:3d under heaven during the few days of their lives.

during their short lives here in this world.
-or-
in the brief time that we (incl.) live on earth.

2:3a-d (combined)

I wanted to find out what was best for us during the short time we have on this earth. So I decided to make myself happy with wine and find out what it means to be foolish, without really being foolish myself. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I drank wine in order to see, whether it would make me happy. But I ⌊did not drink too much and⌋ kept a clear mind. Next I tested foolishness. I wanted to know what is the best thing for people to do during their short lives on earth.

© 2006 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Commentaire sur la traduction de l'Ecclésiaste 2.3

Dans sa quête sur les plaisirs de ce monde, Qohéleth va jusqu’à expérimenter avec le vin, pour voir si cela peut lui apporter quelques réponses.

J’ai délibéré en mon cœur de traîner ma chair dans le vin est litt. « j’ai exploré », le même verbe qu’il utilise en Ecc 1.13. Plusieurs versions disent « J’ai décidé » (Parole de Vie, Bible en français courant, Bible de Jérusalem, La Bible du Semeur), et d’autres « j’ai résolu » (Nouvelle Bible Segond), la plupart omettant le cœur. On se souviendra que dans la culture hébraïque, le cœur est le siège de la réflexion et la volonté.

de traîner ma chair dans le vin : le verbe משׁך mšk veut dire « tirer » « attirer », ma chair est le complément d’objet direct renvoyant à Qohéleth. Plusieurs versions choisissent d’omettre ces références au corps humain, comme la La Bible du Semeur qui dit : « J’ai décidé en moi-même de m’adonner au vin ». Ce qui est important à comprendre, c’est que Qohéleth n’est pas dominé par le désir de boire. Il choisit de son propre gré de voir ce qu’un tel acte produira.

vin, en hébreu יַיִן yayin : dans l’Ancien Testament comme dans le Nouveau, le vin est le jus fermenté des raisins. Il fait partie de la vie quotidienne des Israélites et sa consommation n’est pas condamnée. Néanmoins son abus n’est pas admis. Il est aussi utilisé comme un médicament. Dans beaucoup de langues, il n’y a pas un mot précis pour le vin, car les vignobles et les raisins n’y sont pas connus. Dans certaines traductions on parle alors de « boisson », un terme générique qui couvre différentes sortes de boissons. Mais ici il est clair que cette boisson peut soûler et rendre « fou ». De même, étant donné le rôle important que le vin joue dans la culture juive à travers la Bible, il est important de trouver une bonne solution qui sera utilisée partout. Dans de nombreuses langues, ce mot constitue déjà un emprunt, par exemple duvini, dans d’autres, on utilise un mot qui renvoie à une boisson alcoolisée, parfois avec une description, « raisin boisson ». Certains voient dans cette référence au vin, une référence à tous les plaisirs physiques de ce monde, mais rien ici ne semble justifier cette interprétation.

et tout en conduisant mon cœur avec sagesse, de tenir à la sottise est litt. « et mon cœur conduisant avec sagesse et pour saisir la stupidité ». Les contradictions dans ce que Qohéleth fait et dit sont évidentes ici. Il est conscient de ce qu’il fait, mais dans cette entreprise il semble basculer entre le désir de se conduire avec sagesse et le désir de connaître la folie. Il veut comprendre jusqu’où l’homme peut aller dans sa quête du bonheur. Ainsi il « se conduit » avec sagesse, ce que la Parole de Vie rend comme « tout en restant maître de moi-même ».

de tenir à la sottise est litt. « pour attraper la stupidité ». Ce mot סִכְלוּת sikloût, « folie », est déjà apparu en Ecc 1.17. Il n’est pas facile de bien exprimer cette notion et celle qui précède. La Bible en français courant dit « tout en continuant à me conduire avec sagesse, j’ai résolu de me lancer dans la folie ». La Parole de Vie est encore plus explicite, où Qohéleth se dit prêt à « imiter la vie des gens stupides tout en restant maître de moi-même ».

le temps de voir ce qu’il est bon pour les fils d’Adam de faire sous le ciel pendant les jours comptés de leur vie. : le texte hébraïque dit « jusqu’à ce que je vois où le bien pour les fils de l’être humain qui font sous les cieux le nombre des jours de leur vie »

Le but de Qohéleth reste le même : il veut déterminer ce qui est טוֹב ṭôv, bon, pour les êtres humains sur terre. Voir Ecc 1.1. La Parole de Vie et la Bible en français courant semblent modifier le sens légèrement (« Je voulais comprendre ce que les humains ont de mieux à faire… », « Je voulais voir ce que les humains peuvent faire de bien dans ce monde… »). Il est recommandé de rester proche du texte original ici.

Pour fils d’Adam, voir Ecc 1.13. Pour sous le ciel, voir aussi Ecc 1.13.

pendant les jours comptés de leur vie : les traducteurs pourront chercher des expressions idiomatiques dans leur langue pour exprimer cette notion. La La Bible du Semeur parle des « jours qu’ils ont à y vivre » et la Parole de Vie dit « tout au long de leur vie ».

2.4-11

Qohéleth considère maintenant ses grandes réalisations. Il semble regarder en arrière pour évaluer ses accomplissements, cherchant à donner un sens à sa vie. Il a travaillé dur et a bâti son propre « royaume » : de grandes maisons (Ecc 2.4), de grandes plantations (Ecc 2.5), des systèmes d’irrigation (Ecc 2.6). Il possède beaucoup d’esclaves et de serviteurs, ainsi que de grands troupeaux (Ecc 2.7). Qohéleth fait aussi l’inventaire de ses richesses (or, argent) et d’autres trésors (Ecc 1.8) et se vante encore une fois (Ecc 1.16) d’avoir plus que tous ceux qui ont régné avant lui à Jérusalem (Ecc 2.7, Ecc 2.9). Il a eu accès à tous les plaisirs du monde (Ecc 2.10). Mais à la fin de cette réflexion, il revient à l’idée que tout ce qu’on gagne dans cette vie est éphémère, הֶבֶל hèvèl (Ecc 2.11).

Romerowski (144-145) note ici un lien assez étroit avec le récit de la création : Qohéleth, comme son créateur, a « créé » (le verbe « faire »). Quant au style, on note dans cette section l’absence de la conjonction וְ we au début de Ecc 2.3, 2.4a, b, c, 5a, 6a, 7a, 8a, 8b. Il ne s’agit donc pas d’une liste chronologique des activités mais plutôt d’une liste générale de tout ce que Qohéleth a pu réalisé au cours de sa vie. Sa fierté se sent à travers ce texte, avec les phrases et références répétitives : « j’ai fait », « je », « moi », « à moi », « pour moi ».

Les divisions quant au texte dans les versions diffèrent beaucoup. Certaines le laissent couler (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Bible en français courant, Nouvelle Bible Segond), d’autres commencent un nouveau paragraphe en Ecc 2.4 (Pléiade), d’autres encore proposent un sous-titre (La Bible du Semeur). Les traducteurs devraient décider de quel genre il s’agit (prose ou poésie) et comment diviser le texte. Certaines indications d’après l’hébreu sont mentionnées ci-dessous.

Source: Zogbo, Lynell. L’Ecclésiaste – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.