3:12 I have concluded 1 that there is nothing better for people 2
than 3 to be happy and to enjoy
themselves 4 as long as they live,
3:22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people 5 to enjoy their work, 6
because that is their 7 reward;
for who can show them what the future holds? 8
4:3 But better than both is the one who has not been born 9
and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. 10
4:13 A poor but wise youth is better than an old and foolish king
who no longer knows how to receive advice.
7:2 It is better to go to a funeral 11
than a feast. 12
For death 13 is the destiny 14 of every person, 15
and the living should 16 take this 17 to heart.
7:5 It is better for a person to receive 18 a rebuke from those who are wise 19
than to listen to the song 20 of fools.
9:16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, 21
but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens 22 to his advice. 23
1 tn Heb “I know.”
2 tn Heb “for them”; the referent (people, i.e., mankind) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Qoheleth uses the exceptive particle אִם…כִּי (ki…’im, “except”) to identify the only exception to the futility within man’s life (BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 2).
4 tn Heb “to do good.” The phrase לַעֲשׂוֹת טוֹב (la’asot tov) functions idiomatically for “to experience [or see] happiness [or joy].” The verb עָשַׂה (’asah) probably denotes “to acquire; to obtain” (BDB 795 s.v. עָשַׂה II.7), and טוֹב (tov) means “good; pleasure; happiness,” e.g., Eccl 2:24; 3:13; 5:17 (BDB 375 s.v. טוֹב 1).
5 tn Heb “man.”
6 tn Heb “his works.”
7 tn Heb “his.”
8 tn Heb “what will be after him” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV) or “afterward” (cf. NJPS).
9 tn The word “born” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
10 tn Heb “under the sun.”
11 tn Heb “house of mourning.” The phrase refers to a funeral where the deceased is mourned.
12 tn Heb “house of drinking”; or “house of feasting.” The Hebrew noun מִשְׁתֶּה (mishteh) can denote (1) “feast; banquet,” occasion for drinking-bouts (1 Sam 25:36; Isa 5:12; Jer 51:39; Job 1:5; Esth 2:18; 5:14; 8:17; 9:19) or (2) “drink” (exilic/postexilic – Ezra 3:7; Dan 1:5, 8, 16); see HALOT 653 s.v. מִשְׁתֶּה 4; BDB 1059 s.v. שָׁתַה.
sn Qoheleth recommended that people soberly reflect on the brevity of life and the reality of death (It is better to go to a house of mourning) than to waste one’s life in the foolish pursuit of pleasure (than to go to a house of banqueting). Sober reflection on the brevity of life and reality of death has more moral benefit than frivolous levity.
13 tn Heb “it”; the referent (“death”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “the end.” The noun סוֹף (sof) literally means “end; conclusion” (HALOT 747 s.v. סוֹף 1; BDB 693 s.v. סוֹף). It is used in this context in reference to death, as the preceding phrase “house of mourning” (i.e., funeral) suggests.
15 tn Heb “all men” or “every man.”
16 tn The imperfect tense verb יִתֵּן, yitten (from נָתָן, natan, “to give”) functions in a modal sense, denoting obligation, that is, the subject’s obligatory or necessary conduct: “should” or “ought to” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 31-32, §172; IBHS 508-9 §31.4g).
17 tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
18 tn Heb “hear.”
19 tn Heb “rebuke of the wise,” a subjective genitive (“the wise” administer the rebuke).
20 tn Or “praise.” The antithetical parallelism between “rebuke” (גַּעֲרַת, ga’arat) and “song” (שִׁיר, shir) suggests that the latter is figurative (metonymy of association) for praise/flattery which is “music” to the ears: “praise of fools” (NEB, NJPS) and “flattery of fools” (Douay). However, the collocation of “song” (שִׁיר) in 7:5 with “laughter” (שְׂחֹק, sÿkhoq) in 7:6 suggests simply frivolous merrymaking: “song of fools” (KJV, NASB, NIV, ASV, RSV, NRSV).
21 tn Or “power.”
22 tn The participle form נִשְׁמָעִים (nishma’im, Niphal participle mpl from שָׁמַע, “to listen”) is used verbally to emphasize a continual, durative, gnomic action.
23 tn Heb “his words are never listened to.”