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Ecclesiastes 2:13

Context

2:13 I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly, 1 

just as light is preferable to darkness:

Ecclesiastes 11:7

Context
Life Should Be Enjoyed Because Death is Inevitable

11:7 Light 2  is sweet, 3 

and it is pleasant for a person 4  to see the sun. 5 

1 tn Heb “and I saw that there is profit for wisdom more than folly.”

2 tn The term “light” (הָאוֹר, haor) is used figuratively (metonymy of association) in reference to “life” (e.g., Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:14). By contrast, death is described as “darkness” (e.g., Eccl 11:8; 12:6-7).

3 tn The Hebrew term מָתוֹק (matoq, “sweet”) is often used elsewhere in reference to honey. The point is that life is sweet and should be savored like honey.

4 tn Heb “to the eyes.” The term “eyes” is a synecdoche of part (i.e., eyes) for the whole person. Used with the idiom “to see the sun” (i.e., to be alive), Qoheleth is simply saying that the experience of a life is a pleasant thing that should be savored.

5 tn The idiom “to see the sun” (both רָאָה הָשָּׁמֶשׁ, raah hashamesh, and חָזָה הַשָּׁמֶשׁ, khazah hashamesh) is an idiom meaning “to be alive” (e.g., Ps 58:9; Eccl 6:5; 7:11; 11:7); cf. BDB 1039 s.v. שֶׁמֶשׁ 4.b. The opposite idiom, “the sun is darkened,” refers to the onset of old age and death (Eccl 12:2).



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