| Hebrew |
אַל תֹּאמַר֙ מֶ֣ה הָיָ֔הplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigהָיָה hebrew The word הָיָה means “to exist” or “to be” or “to become” or “to come into being” and occurs 3561 times in the Old Testament. This is the foundational verb of existence, identity, becoming and occurrence. * It is used in the creation narrative of Genesis 1, represented by the English words Genesis 1:3Exodus 3:12Ruth 1:1Isaiah 2:2 שֶׁ֤הַיָּמִים֙ הָרִ֣אשֹׁנִ֔ים הָי֥וּplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigהָיָה hebrew The word הָיָה means “to exist” or “to be” or “to become” or “to come into being” and occurs 3561 times in the Old Testament. This is the foundational verb of existence, identity, becoming and occurrence. * It is used in the creation narrative of Genesis 1, represented by the English words Genesis 1:3Exodus 3:12Ruth 1:1Isaiah 2:2 טוֹבִ֖ים מֵאֵ֑לֶּה כִּ֛י לֹ֥א מֵחָכְמָ֖ה שָׁאַ֥לְתָּ עַל זֶֽה |
| ESV |
Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
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| NIV |
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.
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| NLT |
Don't long for “the good old days.” This is not wise.
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| LXX |
μὴ εἴπῃς τί ἐγένετο ὅτι αἱplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigὁ, ἡ, τό greek Meaning: * The The definite article. Forms Singular Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative ὁ ἡ τό Genitive τοῦ τῆς τοῦ Dative τῷ τῇ ἡμέραι αἱplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigὁ, ἡ, τό greek Meaning: * The The definite article. Forms Singular Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative ὁ ἡ τό Genitive τοῦ τῆς τοῦ Dative τῷ τῇ πρότεραι ἦσανplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigεἰμί greek εἰμί is the first person singular verb for “to be” (εἶναι [the infinitive form] = “to be”). It an irregular verb, and, like English, changes significantly between person and tense. For example εἰμί is the word for am and ἦν is the word for was, e.g. ἀγαθαὶ ὑπὲρ ταύταςplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigοὗτος / αὕτη /τοῦτο greek Meaning: * These or this * This one, this person, this thing * They or he or she or it Demonstrative pronoun. οὗτος usually refers to something close to the speaker — “this” as opposed to ἐκεῖνος (John 9:161 John 5:111 Corinthians 15:501 John 4:9John 5:1Matthew 3:17John 7:26Luke 22:19 ὅτι οὐκ ἐνplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigἐν greek Preposition meaning “in”. σοφίᾳ ἐπηρώτησας περὶ τούτουplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigοὗτος / αὕτη /τοῦτο greek Meaning: * These or this * This one, this person, this thing * They or he or she or it Demonstrative pronoun. οὗτος usually refers to something close to the speaker — “this” as opposed to ἐκεῖνος (John 9:161 John 5:111 Corinthians 15:501 John 4:9John 5:1Matthew 3:17John 7:26Luke 22:19 |
| KJV |
Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.
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Ecclesiastes 7:9 ← Ecclesiastes 7:10 → Ecclesiastes 7:11
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