7:19 Wisdom gives a wise person more protection 1
than ten rulers in a city.
7:20 For 2 there is not one truly 3 righteous person on the earth
who continually does good and never sins.
7:21 Also, do not pay attention to everything that people 4 say;
otherwise, 5 you might even hear 6 your servant cursing you.
7:22 For you know in your own heart 7
that you also have cursed others many times.
7:23 I have examined all this by wisdom;
I said, “I am determined 8 to comprehend this” 9 – but it was beyond my grasp. 10
7:24 Whatever has happened is beyond human 11 understanding; 12
it is far deeper than anyone can fathom. 13
7:25 I tried 14 to understand, examine, and comprehend 15
the role of 16 wisdom in the scheme of things, 17
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness 18 and the insanity of folly. 19
7:26 I discovered this: 20
More bitter than death is the kind of 21 woman 22 who is like a hunter’s snare; 23
her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains.
The man who pleases God escapes her,
but the sinner is captured by her.
7:27 The Teacher says:
I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item.
7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found;
I have found only 24 one upright 25 man among a thousand,
but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.
7:29 This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright,
but they have sought many evil schemes.
1 tn Heb “gives strength.”
2 tn The introductory particle כִּי (ki) is rendered variously: “for” (KJV); “indeed” (NASB); not translated (NIV); “for” (NJPS). The particle functions in an explanatory sense, explaining the need for wisdom in v. 19. Righteousness alone cannot always protect a person from calamity (7:15-16); therefore, something additional, such as wisdom, is needed. The need for wisdom as protection from calamity is particularly evident in the light of the fact that no one is truly righteous (7:19-20).
3 tn The term “truly” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. Qoheleth does not deny the existence of some people who are relatively righteous.
4 tn Heb “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “so that you do not hear…”; or “lest you hear….”
6 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).
7 tn Heb “your heart knows.”
8 tn The cohortative אֶחְכָּמָה (’ekhkamah, from חָכַם, khakham,“to be wise”) emphasizes the resolve (determination) of Qoheleth to become wise enough to understand the perplexities of life.
9 tn Or “I am determined to become wise”
10 tn Or “but it eluded me”; Heb “but it was far from me.”
11 tn The word “human” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
12 tn Heb “is far away.”
13 tn Heb “It is deep, deep – who can find it?” The repetition of the word “deep” emphasizes the degree of incomprehensibility. See IBHS 233-34 §12.5a.
14 tn Heb “I turned, I, even my heart.”
15 tn Heb “to seek.”
16 tn The phrase “the role of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
17 tn The phrase חָכְמָה וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן (khokhmah vÿkheshbon, “wisdom and the scheme of things”) is a hendiadys (a figure of speech in which two nouns connote one idea): “wisdom in the scheme of things.” This is similar to the hendiadys עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ וְהֵרֹנֵךְ (’itsÿvonekh vÿheronekh, “pain and childbearing”) which connotes “pain in childbearing” (Gen 3:16).
18 tn Or “the evil of folly” The genitive construct phrase רֶשַׁע כֶּסֶל (resha’ kesel) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the wickedness of folly”) or as a genitive of attribute (“the folly of wickedness”). The English versions treat it in various ways: “wickedness of folly” (KJV); “wrong of folly” (YLT); “evil of folly” (NASB); “stupidity of wickedness” (NIV); “wickedness, stupidity” (NJPS); “wickedness is folly [or foolish]” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt), and “it is folly to be wicked” (NEB).
19 tn Or “the folly of madness” The genitive construct phrase וְהַסִּכְלוּת הוֹלֵלוֹת (vÿhassikhlut holelot) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the stupidity of wickedness”) or a genitive of attribute (“the evil of folly”). The phrase is rendered variously: “foolishness and madness” (KJV); “foolishness of madness” (NASB); “madness of folly” (NIV); “madness and folly” (NJPS); “the foolishness which is madness” (NEB); and “foolishness [or folly] is madness” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt).
20 tn The word “this” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
21 tn The phrase “kind of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “woman”).
22 tn The article on הָאִשָּׁה (ha’ishah) functions in a particularizing sense (“the kind of woman”) rather than in a generic sense (i.e., “women”).
23 tn Heb “is snares.” The plural form מְצוֹדִים (mÿtsodim, from the noun I מָצוֹד, matsod, “snare”) is used to connote either intensity, repeated or habitual action, or moral characteristic. For the function of the Hebrew plural, see IBHS 120-21 §7.4.2. The term II מָצוֹד “snare” is used in a concrete sense in reference to the hunter’s snare or net, but in a figurative sense of being ensnared by someone (Job 19:6; Prov 12:12; Eccl 7:26).
24 tn The word “only” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness.
25 tn The word “upright” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation twice, here and in the following line, for clarity.