和合本翻译探讨——传道书2:24-26
在读书期间，我没能学完希伯来文。
那时Lisa刚刚诞生不久，我和Emma都在学校做全职学生，再加上需要打工养家，所以实在没有精力学习一门外语了。
考虑到我尊敬的老师Dr. Roy King （一度是Dr. Billy Graham所在教会的牧师）也没有学习希伯来文；考虑到大多数人毕业之后都用不上“两希”（我尊重的另一位牧师在神学生群里发言又删掉的一句话），我就决定先不花这个时间了。
原由
翻译旧约概览课程讲义，看到传道书2:24-26：
24 人莫强如吃喝，且在劳碌中享福，我看这也是出于神的手。
24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,
25 论到吃用、享福，谁能胜过我呢？
25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
26 神喜悦谁，就给谁智慧、知识，和喜乐；唯有罪人，神使他劳苦，叫他将所收聚的、所堆积的归给 神所喜悦的人。这也是虚空，也是捕风。
26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
25节里，和合本的翻译和ESV的翻译差异很大。
25 论到吃用、享福，谁能胜过我呢？
25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
即使从字面上理解，和合本是所罗门在夸耀自己的财宝用度，说自己的吃用享福，无人能及，而ESV说，离开了神，无人可以吃用享福。
方案
我有一位同学来自澳大利亚，他读了MA，就去宣教工场了。闲谈之中，他说自己不需要学习希伯来文和希腊文，因为英文的圣经版本已经足够多，不解的地方，多参考几种译本，再看看注释书就应该能搞清楚大部分难处。
既然我没有学习希伯来文，也只好采用所谓“MA”释经大法。
版本比较
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (ASV) | For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (BBE) | Who may take food or have pleasure without him? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (CEB) | Who can eat and find enjoyment otherwise?— |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (CJB) | For who will eat and who will enjoy except me? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (CSB) | For who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from Him? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (DBY) | For who can eat, or who be eager, more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (ESV) | for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (GNT) | How else could you have anything to eat or enjoy yourself at all? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (GW) | Who can eat or enjoy themselves without God? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (HNV) | For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (JUB) | For who can eat, or who can care for himself better than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (KJV) | For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (LEB) | For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (LXX) | For who shall eat, or who shall drink, without him? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (MSG) | Whether we feast or fast, it's up to God. |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NAS) | For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NCV) | because no one can eat or enjoy life without him. |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NIRV) | Without his help, who can eat or find pleasure? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NIV) | for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NKJV) | For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NLT) | For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (NRS) | for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? |
| Kohelet 2:25 (OJB) | For who can eat, or who can find enjoyment without Hashem? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (RHE) | Who shall so feast and abound with delights as I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (RSV) | for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (TMB) | For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (WBT) | For who can eat, or who else can hasten [to it] more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (WEB) | For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (WYC) | Who shall devour so, and shall flow in (such) delights, as I have? (Who shall ever devour such food, and shall flow in, or shall enjoy, such delights, as I have?) |
| Ecclesiastes 2:25 (YLT) | For who eateth and who hasteth out more than I? |
看起来，“我”和“他”各半，但是许多晚近的译本，比如NIV，ESV，RSV，LEB，MSG等，采用了“他”。
接下来，参考有关注释的文本注解：
WBC说，应该参考这样一篇文章：On the textual problems of v 25, see J. de Waard, Bib 60 (1979) 510–27.
这篇文章太老，懒得去找。于是找到Craig G. Bartholomew的Reading Ecclesiastes: Old Testament Exegesis and Hermeneutical Theory一书，相关的注释：
看了一下，大体上说，因为“我”更难解一些，所以按照通常的文本批判方法，抄写员把容易理解的“他”改为“我”可能性小于把难解的“我”改为“他”。因此，在文本证据相当的情况下，原文是“我”的可能性要大一些。
但是，Waard认为，2:25节最好理解为一句插入语，是引用神亲口说的话：“[神说]，离了我，谁能吃用享受呢？”
于是，在含义上，Waard就认为，“我”与“他”没有差别了。
26节
其实，26节也有问题。
26 神喜悦谁，就给谁智慧、知识，和喜乐；唯有罪人，神使他劳苦，叫他将所收聚的、所堆积的归给 神所喜悦的人。这也是虚空，也是捕风。
26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
和合本作“神喜悦谁”，而ESV作“to the one who pleases him”，意思也不尽相同。
有点长了，就此打住。