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Koheleth קֹהֶלֶת

sage · Jerusalem · c. 5th–3rd century BC

The speaker of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible. Koheleth is less a name than a title, something like "one who speaks in the assembly". The book presents him as a king in Jerusalem, but who wrote it and when is unknown; scholars mostly place it between the Persian and the Hellenistic periods.

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c. 5th–3rd century BC · "A time" goes on through verse 8, twenty-eight times in all. The original follows the letters and vowel points of the Leningrad Codex.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

לַכֹּל זְמָן וְעֵת לְכָל־חֵפֶץ תַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם עֵת לָלֶדֶת וְעֵת לָמוּת עֵת לָטַעַת וְעֵת לַעֲקוֹר נָטוּעַ עֵת לַהֲרוֹג וְעֵת לִרְפּוֹא עֵת לִפְרוֹץ וְעֵת לִבְנוֹת עֵת לִבְכּוֹת וְעֵת לִשְׂחוֹק עֵת סְפוֹד וְעֵת רְקוֹד

Ecclesiastes 3:1–4

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c. 5th–3rd century BC

Two are better than one, for they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion; but woe to the one who is alone when he falls and has no second to lift him up.

טוֹבִים הַשְּׁנַיִם מִן־הָאֶחָד אֲשֶׁר יֵשׁ־לָהֶם שָׂכָר טוֹב בַּעֲמָלָם כִּי אִם־יִפֹּלוּ הָאֶחָד יָקִים אֶת־חֲבֵרוֹ וְאִילוֹ הָאֶחָד שֶׁיִּפּוֹל וְאֵין שֵׁנִי לַהֲקִימוֹ

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10

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c. 5th–3rd century BC · This counsel comes just after he has said that the same death awaits everyone. He goes on: let your clothes always be white, and enjoy life with the wife you love.

Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a glad heart, for God has already approved what you do.

לֵךְ אֱכֹל בְּשִׂמְחָה לַחְמֶךָ וּשֲׁתֵה בְלֶב־טוֹב יֵינֶךָ כִּי כְבָר רָצָה הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־מַעֲשֶׂיךָ

Ecclesiastes 9:7

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c. 5th–3rd century BC · From the very end of the book, in the epilogue added by whoever gathered Koheleth's words.

And beyond these, my son, be warned: of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the flesh.

וְיֹתֵר מֵהֵמָּה בְּנִי הִזָּהֵר עֲשׂוֹת סְפָרִים הַרְבֵּה אֵין קֵץ וְלַהַג הַרְבֵּה יְגִעַת בָּשָׂר

Ecclesiastes 12:12

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