Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 4:10 
Context4:10 For if they fall, one will help his companion up,
but pity 1 the person who falls down and has no one to help him up.
Ecclesiastes 4:12
Context4:12 Although an assailant may overpower 2 one person,
two can withstand him.
Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 5:12
Context5:12 The sleep of the laborer is pleasant – whether he eats little or much –
but the wealth of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
Ecclesiastes 5:20
Context5:20 For he does not think 3 much about the fleeting 4 days of his life
because God keeps him preoccupied 5 with the joy he derives from his activity. 6
Ecclesiastes 10:14
Context10:14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. 7
No one knows what will happen;
who can tell him what will happen in the future? 8
1 tn Heb “woe to him.”
2 tn The verbal root תקף means “to overpower; to prevail over” e.g., Job 14:20; 15:24; Eccl 4:12; 6:10 (HALOT 1786 s.v. תקף).
3 tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”) may be nuanced “to call to mind; to think about,” that is, “to reflect upon” (e.g., Isa 47:7; Lam 1:9; Job 21:6; 36:24; 40:32; Eccl 11:8); cf. BDB 270 s.v. זָכַר 5; HALOT 270 s.v. I זכר 2.
4 tn The word “fleeting” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The term מַעֲנֵה (ma’aneh, Hiphil participle ms from II עָנָה, ’anah, “to be occupied”) refers to activity that keeps a person physically busy and mentally preoccupied, e.g., Eccl 1:13; 3:10; 5:19 (HALOT 854; BDB 775 s.v. עָנָה II). The related noun עִנְיַן (’inyan,“business; occupation; task”) refers to activity that keeps man busy and occupies his time, e.g., Eccl 1:13; 2:26; 3:10 (HALOT 857; BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן). The participle form is used to emphasize durative, uninterrupted, continual action.
6 tn Heb “with the joy of his heart.” The words “he derives from his activity” do not appear in the Hebrew, but they are added to clarify the Teacher’s point in light of what he says right before this.
7 tn Heb “and the fool multiplies words.” This line is best taken as the third line of a tricola encompassing 10:13-14a (NASB, NRSV, NJPS, Moffatt) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, NAB, ASV, NIV). Several versions capture the sense of this line well: “a fool prates on and on” (Moffatt) and “Yet the fool talks and talks!” (NJPS).
8 tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”
