4:6 Better is one handful with some rest
than two hands full of toil 1 and chasing the wind.
7:10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these days?” 2
for it is not wise to ask that. 3
9:4 But whoever is among 4 the living 5 has hope;
a live dog is better than a dead lion.
1 sn Qoheleth lists three approaches to labor: (1) the competitive workaholic in 4:4, (2) the impoverished sluggard in 4:5, and (3) the contented laborer in 4:6. The balanced approach rebukes the two extremes.
2 tn Heb “these.” “Days” does not appear in the Hebrew text as second time, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
3 tn Heb “It is not from wisdom that you ask about this.”
4 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “is chosen, selected.” The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), “is joined.” See BDB 288 s.v. חָבַר Pu.
5 tn Heb “all the living.”