A second independent saying is introduced by the emphatic particle ki, Surely or “Indeed.” This form of introduction can be expressed in various ways. One way is to say “There is absolutely no…”; we can also say “You know….” The point of the saying here is to remind readers that even a righteous person is not perfect; occasional lapses and failures are to be expected.

There is not a righteous man on earth: by putting the general term “mankind” before the negative particle there is not, Qoheleth further emphasizes the point that there is absolutely no righteous person, that is, someone who never does anything wrong. A righteous man is the same term as was used in verse 15; see comments there. We can render the sense as “a person who keeps God’s Law” or “a law-abiding person.”

Like the phrases “under the sun” and “under heaven,” the phrase on earth can have two meanings: one is to express location, the other indicates that the person is alive in this world. In this context we have that same choice, so we can use “anywhere” for the locational sense, or “living” if we wish to give it the other emphasis.

Qoheleth does not claim that nowhere can there be found a righteous or just person. Rather, he says that, of all the righteous people on earth, not one of them (always) does good; none does right on every occasion. The verb forms here are imperfect and point to regular or constant action; in this case they indicate “not every time” or “not always.”

Does good does not mean simply being kind and helping others, but doing what is correct and right in each setting. This person’s actions are always an example to others. Parallel to doing good is the verb never sins. Both verbs refer to the legal world in this case; so does good and never sins are defining actions, together saying the same thing. The repetition is part of the emphatic speech form used, and can be reflected in our translation. It is the equivalent of “obedience,” “obeying God’s Law.”

Two translation possibilities are:

• There is absolutely no righteous person anywhere who obeys God’s Law every time.

• Really, no just person alive always does what God requires without fail.

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 .