There Is No Good Thing Within a Person . . . , with Lucia Sanders: Ecclesiastes 2:24

Exegetically Speaking

Lucia Sanders, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Director of the Academic Support Center at Life Pacific University (San Dimas, CA), is an alumna of Wheaton Graduate School’s M.A. in Biblical Exegesis and a current Ph.D. student at University of Birmingham. Today’s topic: Eccl. 2:24 is frequently translated something like, “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink . . .” (NIV). It's the Hebrew preposition behind the words “better than” that deserves a second look, as it normally does not signal a comparison as appears in typical translations.