a.nah describes being occupied with what God gives people to do, most clearly a task set before them.

The clearest attested use describes people being occupied with a task God has given them; the two Qal infinitives occur in statements about that task. The Hiphil participle occurs in a statement about God’s gifts, riches, eating, and rejoicing, but the translation does not isolate its contribution there.

1. Being occupied with a God-given task · dominant

   In Ecclesiastes 1:13, the Qal infinitive construct follows the statement that God has given the children of man a harmful task; the APB renders the result as “that they should be occupied with it.” Ecclesiastes 3:10 likewise places the Qal infinitive with the task God has given the children of man, rendered “to be occupied with.” Ecclesiastes 5:19 has a Hiphil active participle in a statement about God’s gifts, riches, eating, and rejoicing; the APB’s wording does not make this token’s specific contribution clear.

   Ecclesiastes 1:13Ecclesiastes 3:10Ecclesiastes 5:19

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB explicitly uses “occupied with it” in Ecclesiastes 1:13 and “to be occupied with” in Ecclesiastes 3:10. In Ecclesiastes 5:19 it presents God’s gift, empowerment, and rejoicing and does not clearly identify the participle’s rendering.