Ecclesiastes 6:8

6:8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ¹ 

And what advantage ²  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ³ 

Ecclesiastes 6:11

6:11 The more one argues with words, the less he accomplishes. ⁴ 

How does that benefit him? ⁵ 

[6:8]  ¹ sn So what advantage does the wise man have over a fool? The rhetorical question in Hebrew implies a negative answer: the wise man has no absolute advantage over a fool in the sense that both will share the same fate: death. Qoheleth should not be misunderstood here as denying that wisdom has no relative advantage over folly; elsewhere he affirms that wisdom does yield some relative benefits in life (7:1-22). However, wisdom cannot deliver one from death.

[6:8]  ² sn As in the preceding parallel line, this rhetorical question implies a negative answer (see the note after the word “fool” in the preceding line).

[6:8]  ³ tn Heb “ What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”

[6:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “The more the words, the more the futility.”

[6:11]  ⁵ tn Or “What benefit does man have [in that]?”