4:6 Better is one handful with some rest
than two hands full of toil 1 and chasing the wind.
8:7 Surely no one knows the future, 2
and no one can tell another person what will happen. 3
1 sn Qoheleth lists three approaches to labor: (1) the competitive workaholic in 4:4, (2) the impoverished sluggard in 4:5, and (3) the contented laborer in 4:6. The balanced approach rebukes the two extremes.
2 tn Heb “what will be.”
3 tn Heb “Who can tell him what will be?”