Pengkhotbah 7:21

7:21 Also, do not pay attention to everything that people ¹  say;

otherwise, ²  you might even hear ³  your servant cursing you.

Pengkhotbah 10:12

Words and Works of Wise Men and Fools

10:12 The words of a wise person ⁴  win him ⁵  favor, ⁶ 

but the words ⁷  of a fool are self-destructive. ⁸ 

[7:21]  ¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:21]  ² tn Heb “so that you do not hear…”; or “lest you hear….”

[7:21]  ³ tn The imperfect tense verb תִשְׁמַע (tishma’; from שָׁמַע [shama’, “to hear”]) functions in a modal sense, denoting possibility: “you might hear” (see IBHS 508 §31.4e).

[10:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “of a wise man’s mouth.”

[10:12]  ⁵ tn The phrase “win him” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[10:12]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “lips.”

[10:12]  ⁸ 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”).