Πάντα ταῦτα ἐπείρασα ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ: εἶπα Σοφισθήσομαι, καὶ αὐτὴ ἐμακρύνθη ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ· κτλ. (Εcclesiastes 7:23f., LXX version) -> I tried to give proof in wisdom of all those things; I said, "I will be wise," but that wisdom was far from me ...

Translation Assistance > Ancient Greek -> English translation forum

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luisffmendes:
The greek is from LXX, Ecclesiastes 7:23-24:

23 Πάντα ταῦτα ἐπείρασα ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ: εἶπα Σοφισθήσομαι, 24 καὶ αὐτὴ ἐμακρύνθη ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ μακρὰν ὑπὲρ ὃ ἦν, καὶ βαθὺ βάθος, τίς εὑρήσει αὐτό;

I can propose these translations:

α) I tried to give proof in wisdom of all these things: I said “I shall be expert/ wise”, and (or but) that was far away from me, too far away, and too deep from that which was the case: so, who will be able to reach (or to find, i.e. to grasp or to grab) it?

β) All these things have I proved in wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me. That - which is far beyond what was, and a great depth - who shall find it out?

Thank you in advance

billberg23:
Both translations seem to grasp the essential meaning, i.e.
I tried to give proof in wisdom of all those things; I said, "I will be wise,"
but that wisdom was far from me. Who is going to discover that which is far beyond all precedent (= "what has been"), and deep in depth?
We'll make an exception just this once to the 12-word limit (see The Rules; click at top of page).

luisffmendes:
I missed that rule, I apologize...

Thank you

RKAT:
I've experienced all these, for being wise : I said, I'll be wise and then wisdom got far away from me..- I wanted to be wise, but as long as I strived for this, I couldn't manage this, until I gained it from experience..

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