Pengkhotbah 3:7

3:7 A time to rip, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.

Pengkhotbah 10:14

10:14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ¹ 

No one knows what will happen;

who can tell him what will happen in the future? ² 

Pengkhotbah 7:8

7:8 The end of a matter ³  is better than its beginning;

likewise, patience ⁴  is better than pride. ⁵ 

Pengkhotbah 10:13

10:13 At the beginning his words ⁶  are foolish

and at the end ⁷  his talk ⁸  is wicked madness, ⁹ 

Pengkhotbah 6:11

6:11 The more one argues with words, the less he accomplishes. ¹⁰ 

How does that benefit him? ¹¹ 

Pengkhotbah 5:3

5:3 Just as dreams come when there are many cares, ¹² 

so ¹³  the rash vow ¹⁴  of a fool occurs ¹⁵  when there are many words.

Pengkhotbah 3:16

The Problem of Injustice and Oppression

3:16 I saw something else on earth: ¹⁶ 

In the place of justice, there was wickedness,

and in the place of fairness, ¹⁷  there was wickedness.

Pengkhotbah 5:7

5:7 Just as there is futility in many dreams,

so also in many words. ¹⁸ 

Therefore, fear God!

Pengkhotbah 10:12

Words and Works of Wise Men and Fools

10:12 The words of a wise person ¹⁹  win him ²⁰  favor, ²¹ 

but the words ²²  of a fool are self-destructive. ²³ 

Pengkhotbah 5:2

5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth or hasty in your heart to bring up a matter before God,

for God is in heaven and you are on earth!

Therefore, let your words be few.

[10:14]  ¹ 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).

[10:14]  ² tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”

[7:8]  ³ 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).

[7:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the patient of spirit.”

[7:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “the proud of spirit.”

[10:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the words of his mouth.”

[10:13]  ⁷ sn The terms “beginning” and “end” form a merism, a figure of speech in which two opposites are contrasted to indicate totality (e.g., Deut 6:7; Ps 139:8; Eccl 3:2-8). The words of a fool are madness from “start to finish.”

[10:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “his mouth.”

[10:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “madness of evil.”

[6:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The more the words, the more the futility.”

[6:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “What benefit does man have [in that]?”

[5:3]  ¹² tn The term עִנְיַן (’inyan) means “business; affair; task; occupation” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן; BDB 775 s.v. עִנְיָן). HALOT nuances עִנְיַן בְּרֹב (bÿrov ‘inyan) as “excessive activity” (HALOT 857 s.v. עִנְיָן). Here, it is used as a metonymy of cause (i.e., tasks) for effect (i.e., cares). The term is nuanced variously: (1) literal sense: “business” (KJV, ASV, YLT, NEB, RSV) and “effort” (NASB), and (2) metonymical: “cares” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), “concerns” (MLB, Douay), “worries” (Moffatt) and “brooding” (NJPS). The LXX mistakenly related עִנְיַן to the root II עָנַה (’anah) “to afflict,” and rendered it as πειρασμοῦ (peirasmou, “trial”).

[5:3]  ¹³ tn The juxtaposition of the two lines joined by vav (“just as…so…”) suggests a comparison (BDB 253 s.v. ו 1.j); see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §437.

[5:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “voice.” The Hebrew term קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used as a metonymy of cause (i.e., voice) for the contents (i.e., the thing said), e.g., Gen 3:17; 4:23; Exod 3:18; 4:1, 9; Deut 1:45; 21:18, 20; 1 Sam 2:25; 8:7, 9; 2 Sam 12:18); see HALOT 1084 s.v. קוֹל 4.b; BDB 877 s.v. קוֹל 3.a; also E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 545–46. Contextually, this refers to a rash vow made by a fool who made a mistake in making it because he is unable to fulfill it.

[5:3]  ¹⁵ tn The word “occurs” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[3:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “righteousness.”

[5:7]  ¹⁸ tn The syntax of this verse is difficult. Perhaps the best approach is to classify the vav on וַהֲבָלִים (vahavalim, “futilities”) as introducing the predicate (e.g., Gen 40:9; 2 Sam 23:3; Prov 10:25; Isa 34:12; Job 4:6; 36:26); BDB 255 s.v. ו 5.c.γ: “There is futility….” The phrase בְרֹב הֲלֹמוֹת (vÿrob halomot) is an adverbial modifier (“in many dreams”), as is דְבָרִים הַרְבֵּה (dÿvarim harbeh, “many words”). The vav prefixed to וּדְבָרִים (udÿvarim) and the juxtaposition of the two lines suggests a comparison: “just as…so also…” (BDB 253 s.v. ו 1.j). The English versions reflect a variety of approaches: “In the multitude of dreams and many words there are also diverse vanities” (KJV); “In the multitude of dreams there are vanities, and in many words” (ASV); “When dreams increase, empty words grow many” (RSV); “In many dreams and follies and many words” (MLB); “In the abundance of dreams both vanities and words abound” (YLT); “Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and words without number” (Douay); “Many dreams and words mean many a vain folly” (Moffatt); “Much dreaming leads to futility and to superfluous talk” (NJPS); “In many dreams and in many words there is emptiness” (NASB); “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless” (NIV); “With many dreams comes vanities and a multitude of words” (NRSV).

[10:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “of a wise man’s mouth.”

[10:12]  ²⁰ tn The phrase “win him” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:12]  ²¹ 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).

[10:12]  ²² tn Heb “lips.”

[10:12]  ²³ 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”).