Mazmur 73:22

73:22 I was ignorant ¹  and lacked insight; ² 

I was as senseless as an animal before you. ³ 

Mazmur 73:2

73:2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;

my feet almost slid out from under me. ⁴ 

Pengkhotbah 2:12

Wisdom is Better than Folly

2:12 Next, I decided to consider ⁵  wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. ⁶ 

For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king ⁷  has already done?

[73:22]  ¹ tn Or “brutish, stupid.”

[73:22]  ² tn Heb “and I was not knowing.”

[73:22]  ³ tn Heb “an animal I was with you.”

[73:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb normally means “to pour out,” but here it must have the nuance “to slide.”

[73:2]  sn My feet almost slid out from under me. The language is metaphorical. As the following context makes clear, the psalmist almost “slipped” in a spiritual sense. As he began to question God’s justice, the psalmist came close to abandoning his faith.

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I turned to see.”

[2:12]  ⁶ sn See 1:17 for the same expression. Throughout 2:1-11, Qoheleth evaluated the merits of merrymaking (2:1-3), accomplishing grand things (2:4-6), amassing great wealth (2:7-8), and secular acquisitions and accomplishments (2:9-10). Now, he reflects on the benefit in life in living wisely and not giving oneself over to frivolous self-indulgence.

[2:12]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text reads עָשׂוּהוּ (’asuhu, “they have done it”; Qal perfect 3rd person masculine plural from עָשַׂה [’asah] + 3rd person masculine singular suffix). However, many medieval Hebrew mss read עָשָׂהוּ (’asahu, “he has done”; Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular from עָשַׂה), reflected in the LXX and Syriac. The error was caused by dittography (ו, vav, written twice) or by orthographic confusion between ו and ה (hey) in הוו (confused as והוו) at the end of 2:12 and beginning of 2:13. The 3rd person masculine singular referent of עָשׂוּהוּ “what he has done” is the king, that is, Qoheleth himself. The referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.