The Hebrew of this verse is literally “Also every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor, a gift of God [is] this.”
Despite the introductory also this verse does not contain additional advice. It merely explains more fully what verse 12 says. In this way it continues on from what comes before. And so also may be rendered as “that is to say” or “in other words,” so the two verses (12 and 13) can be run together. The resulting translation may better reflect the structure of these two verses in the Hebrew: “I know there is no better way to live…, that is to say, that God’s gift to a person is for them to eat, drink, and take pleasure….” Thus in some languages the translator can use one complex sentence. But the same effect can be had by dividing the sentence into two independent parts that resemble each other in structure; for example, “[Verse 12] I know that there is no better way to live than to be happy and enjoy life. [Verse 13] I know that God’s gift to man is for him to eat, drink….”
Man and every one in this context are clearly general terms for all human beings, so we should reflect that sense in our translation by saying “all people,” “everyone,” or “us.” Every one in the Hebrew appears as the subject of the verbs that follow, thus “everyone who eats and drinks….”
For a discussion on the verbs eat, drink, and “enjoy [or, see good in] one’s work,” see comments on 2.24. Actually the meaning of the verse is difficult to determine if we do not compare it with the other forms of the call to enjoyment. In 2.24 we find the same “man who eats” expression. As these sayings are all advice to people to act in a certain way, an appropriate translation is “a person should eat” or “everyone should eat.”
In some languages these three kinds of activities will need to be referred to together by a plural, “these” or “these things are God’s gift.” In other languages, if the singular is to be used, “this” may be more natural than “that [is God’s gift].”
It must be noted that Revised Standard Version has reversed the order of the Hebrew. It is God’s gift occurs at the end of the verse in the original. If the phrase is moved to its original position, a more natural translation of verses 12 and 13 may be possible: “I know there is no better way to live than to be happy and enjoy yourself throughout your life. That is to say, if a person can eat, drink, and be satisfied with all his work, this is a gift from God.” This is essentially what Good News Translation has done, as well as Jerusalem Bible and New Jerusalem Bible.
If translators wish to adopt words similar to those of Revised Standard Version, it is God’s gift … that …, then an alternative may be “God’s gift is that everyone should….”
It may be necessary in certain languages to say whom God’s gift is for (“This is God’s gift to people” or “This is what God offers us”), even though this should be clear from context.
Models for translation:
• That is to say, people should eat and drink and enjoy their work. That is God’s gift.
• In other words, we should eat, drink, and enjoy our work. These things are God’s gift [to us].
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .