Ecc 3:13 | KD | STEP | “But also that he should eat and drink, and see good in all his labour, is for every man a gift of God.” The inverted and yet anacoluthistic formation of the sentence is quite like that at Ecc 5:18. כּל־הא signifies, properly, the totality of men = all men, e.g. , ; but here and at 5:18; 12:13, the author uses the two words so that the determ. second member of the st. constr . does not determine the first (which elsewhere sometimes occurs, as bethulath Israel, a virgin of Israel, ): every one of men (cf. πᾶς τις βροτῶν). The subst. clause col-haadam is subject: every one of men, in this that he eats ... is dependent on God. Instead of מיּד the word מתּת (abbrev. from מתּנת) is here used, as at Ecc 5:18. The connection by vegam is related to the preceding adversat.: and (= but) also (= notwithstanding that), as at , , cf. , where gam is strengthened by becol-zoth. As for the rest, it follows from , in connection with , that for Koheleth εὐποΐ́α and εὐθυμία reciprocally condition each other, without, however, a conclusion following therefrom justifying the translation “to do good,” . Men’s being conditioned in the enjoyment of life, and, generally, their being conditioned by God the Absolute, has certainly an ethical end in view, as is expressed in the conclusion which Koheleth now reaches: -

‏ Ecclesiastes 3:13

Ecc 3:13 “But also that he should eat and drink, and see good in all his labour, is for every man a gift of God.” The inverted and yet anacoluthistic formation of the sentence is quite like that at Ecc 5:18. כּל־הא signifies, properly, the totality of men = all men, e.g., Psa 116:11; but here and at 5:18; 12:13, the author uses the two words so that the determ. second member of the st. constr. does not determine the first (which elsewhere sometimes occurs, as bethulath Israel, a virgin of Israel, Deu 22:19): every one of men (cf. πᾶς τις βροτῶν). The subst. clause col-haadam is subject: every one of men, in this that he eats ... is dependent on God. Instead of מיּד the word מתּת (abbrev. from מתּנת) is here used, as at Ecc 5:18. The connection by vegam is related to the preceding adversat.: and (= but) also (= notwithstanding that), as at Ecc 6:7, Neh 5:8, cf. Jer 3:10, where gam is strengthened by becol-zoth. As for the rest, it follows from Ecc 3:13, in connection with Ecc 2:24-26, that for Koheleth εὐποΐ́α and εὐθυμία reciprocally condition each other, without, however, a conclusion following therefrom justifying the translation “to do good,” Ecc 3:12. Men’s being conditioned in the enjoyment of life, and, generally, their being conditioned by God the Absolute, has certainly an ethical end in view, as is expressed in the conclusion which Koheleth now reaches: -