Qoheleth now offers readers his reasons for thinking in this way. The introductory For, links the previous verse with this one. We note the verbs comes and goes as references to birth and death, the same feature found in 5.13-16.

It comes into vanity: the subject of this clause is it, which we can identify by referring back to the stillborn or miscarried child. Qoheleth is again using the verb comes, or “be born.” When Good News Translation says “it does that baby no good to be born,” it is missing the point Qoheleth is making. He has just argued that the stillborn is better off, so we must be more consistent with our translation. Qoheleth describes the child as born into vanity. The preposition attached can mean “in,” “with,” “by.” The structure of this and the following example suggests that “in” or “with” is the more appropriate preposition. Again we meet the keyword hevel, and again our basic definition of its sense as “enigma,” or “something inexplicable,” is our choice. The child is born and dies “in mystery” or “inexplicably,” meaning that it denies its parents the joy of parenthood. To be robbed of an anticipated child is a painful experience. There are no adequate answers to this enigma. So we can suggest as a translation “its birth is an unexplained mystery” or “a miscarriage is hard to understand.”

And goes into darkness: here darkness may be a reference to the long night of death, but the parallel with hevel suggests a meaning such as “something hidden from our understanding or view.” On this parallelism note that Jerusalem Bible uses “darkness” to translate both the Hebrew terms hevel and choshek. We are already familiar with the verb goes as a euphemism for death.

For translation of this clause we recommend:

• Its death also is painful and hard to understand.

And in darkness its name is covered: name is usually understood in its literal sense of what a person is called. In some cultures stillborn babies may receive a name before they are buried, but this is certainly not true of miscarried or aborted children. In Hebrew culture the name represented the person, his personality or identity. If this is the meaning of name here, then the verse means this child’s personality or identity was never known.

In darkness repeats the adverbial phrase above, so again the dimension of mystery surrounding the child remains. Is covered means that its nature was “hidden,” invisible to the world (note Jerusalem Bible “wrapped in darkness”). Good News Translation “where it is forgotten” is a very free translation, but again it does not reflect the sad mystery surrounding the conception and departure of the stillborn or miscarried child.

Taking the expression as a whole, then, in darkness its name is covered means “his personality will never be revealed,” or “his identity is hidden from us,” or “because of his premature death, what this child could have been [or, his potential] will never be known.” In many cultures the meaning of name is close to the Hebrew usage, and a similar figure of speech may exist. In this case we may keep the word name in the translation, if its broader meaning is clear.

Some translation possibilities are:

• The birth and death of a stillborn child is beyond our explanation; its identity is completely hidden from us.

• Mystery surrounds the birth and death of a stillborn child; death hides its identity from us.

• The way a miscarried child comes into the world and leaves it is hard to understand. What this person could have become is never realized.

The Hebrew text here is quite poetic. The rhythm suggests a deep sadness and finality:
… in mystery he comes
in darkness he goes
and in darkness his name is covered.

Instead of using the models cited above, the translator may decide on a more literal and poetic translation, if it is felt such a translation is effective and understandable. Jerusalem Bible attempts to show the poetry of these lines by indentation. This also is a possibility for translators.

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 .