All streams run to the sea: this is a third example of constant motion in the natural world. It is linked to the previous two examples by the use of the participle “going,” translated here as run and flow. Streams refers to rivers that flow all year round, not to those that have water only after heavy rains.

This is a general saying, not intended as a statement of fact about all rivers, for even in Israel there were rivers that flowed inland into the desert and were lost in the desert sands. Of course it is generally true that a river runs toward the sea. It may be more natural in translation to omit the modifier “all” and simply say “Streams run [or, flow] ….”

In this verse sea has two possible meanings: one is “ocean” in the sense of a large open sea like the Mediterranean Sea; the second is an enclosed body of water or lake. In the Old Testament both are spoken of as “seas,” as in the “Sea of Galilee” and the “Dead Sea” (or “Sea of Salt”). In languages where a distinction is required, it is better to use the more general term. If necessary we can also say “[All] streams flow to go to the sea.” This meets the needs of those languages that require a purpose clause at this point.

The sea is not full: to the ancient Israelites there was something mysterious about the fact that water, often in vast amounts, flowed into the sea, but that the sea was never “filled up.” This was certainly true of the Sea of Galilee, because water flowed in at one end and out the other. In the case of the Dead Sea, water flowed in and evaporated because of the intense heat, so that the water level changed very little, even in flood time. The emphasis is not so much on the fact that the river cannot fill up the sea, as it is on the fact that water never ceases flowing into it. This is the significance of the phrase “turn back and go” later in the verse.

To the place where refers to the place from which the river began its journey to the sea. This fact is not clear in some translations (Jerusalem Bible, Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Moffatt). It is clear that the poem means to draw attention to this from the way the same phrase is used in verse 5.

There they flow again means that they never cease to flow. The Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version models draw out this meaning clearly.

In the ancient Israelite view, the waters under the earth provided a constant supply of water as springs bubbled up from below to replenish the rivers and streams. Qoheleth sees this constant flow from springs to rivers to sea and back again via the springs as another illustration of the constant motion in the created world.

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 .