Ecclesiastes 10:12

The words of a wise person ¹  win him ²  favor, ³  but the words ⁴  of a fool are self-destructive. ⁵ 

2Sa 1:16; 1Ki 20:40-42; Job 4:3,4; Job 16:5; Ps 37:30; Ps 40:9,10; Ps 64:8; Ps 71:15-18; Ps 140:9; Pr 10:8,10,14; Pr 10:13,20,21,31,32; Pr 12:13,14,18; Pr 15:2,23; Pr 16:21-24; Pr 18:6-8; Pr 19:5; Pr 22:17,18; Pr 25:11,12; Pr 26:9; Pr 31:26; Mt 12:35; Lu 4:22; Lu 19:22; Eph 4:29; Col 4:6

¹ tn Heb “of a wise man’s mouth.”

² tn The phrase “win him” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Or “are gracious.” The antithetical parallelism suggests that חֵן (khen) does not denote “gracious character” but “[gain] favor” (e.g., Gen 39:21; Exod 3:21; 11:3; 12:36; Prov 3:4, 34; 13:15; 22:1; 28:23; Eccl 9:11); cf. HALOT 332 s.v. חֵן 2; BDB 336 s.v. חֵן 2. The LXX, on the other hand, rendered חֶן with χάρις (caris, “gracious”). The English versions are divided: “are gracious” (KJV, YLT, ASV, NASB, NIV) and “win him favor” (NEB, RSV, NRSV, NAB, MLB, NJPS, Moffatt).

⁴ tn Heb “lips.”

⁵ tn Heb “consume him”; or “engulf him.” The verb I בלע (“to swallow”) creates a striking wordplay on the homonymic root II בלע (“to speak eloquently”; HALOT 134-35 s.v בלע). Rather than speaking eloquently (II בלע, “to speak eloquently”), the fool utters words that are self-destructive (I בלע, “to swallow, engulf”).