"As thou knowest not what is the way of the wind [ruach], nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the work of God who doeth all" (Ecclesiastes 11:5 ASV).
"Spirit - The same Hebrew word (like πνεῦμα pneuma in Greek and 'Spirit' in English) signifies both the wind-Ecclesiastes 11:4 and the Spirit (compare marginal reference). The Old Testament in many places recognizes the special operation of God Job 10:8-12; Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5, and distinctly of the Spirit of God Job 31:15 in the origination of every child. Compare Genesis 2:7" (Barnes' Notes on the Bible).
Disclaimer: I don't necessarily endorse Barnes' whole commentary on this verse.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Barnes' Notes for Ecclesiastes 11:5
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3 comments:
Interesting, different translations have something different, the NWT, NRSV, ESV, and some others have it saying how the spirit comes to the bones, or operates in the bones, or something like that.
Hi Roman,
NET has an interesting note:
tn Heb “what is the way of the wind.” Some take these words with what follows: “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman.” There is debate whether מַה־דֶּרֶךְ הָרוּחַ (mah derekh haruakh) refers to the wind (“the path of the wind”) or the human spirit of a child in the mother’s womb (“how the spirit comes”). The LXX understood it as the wind: “the way of the wind” (ἡ ὁδὸς τοῦ πνεύματος, hē hodos tou pneumatos); however, the Targum and Vulgate take it as the human spirit. The English versions are divided: (1) spirit: “the way of the spirit” (KJV, YLT, Douay); “the breath of life” (NAB); “how a pregnant woman comes to have…a living spirit in her womb” (NEB); “how the lifebreath passes into the limbs within the womb of the pregnant woman” (NJPS); “how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child” (RSV); “how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb” (NRSV); and (2) wind: “the way of the wind” (ASV, RSV margin); “the path of the wind” (NASB, NIV); and “how the wind blows” (MLB, Moffatt).
If it is the latter, that might be the first formulation of the emergence problem, or the mind body problem ... if we take it very loosely.
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