Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 7:8-10 
Context7:8 The end of a matter 1 is better than its beginning;
likewise, patience 2 is better than pride. 3
7:9 Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, 4
for anger resides in the lap 5 of fools.
7:10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these days?” 6
for it is not wise to ask that. 7
1 tn The term דָבָר (davar) denotes “matter; thing” here rather than “speech; word,” as the parallelism with “patience” suggests. The term was misunderstood as “speech; word” by the Vulgate (so also Douay).
2 tn Heb “the patient of spirit.”
3 tn Heb “the proud of spirit.”
4 tn Heb “Do not be hasty in your spirit to become angry.”
5 tn Heb “bosom.”
6 tn Heb “these.” “Days” does not appear in the Hebrew text as second time, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
7 tn Heb “It is not from wisdom that you ask about this.”
