Ecclesiastes 10:10

10:10 If an iron axhead ¹  is blunt and a workman ²  does not sharpen ³  its edge, ⁴ 

he must exert a great deal of effort; ⁵ 

so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

Ecclesiastes 10:14

10:14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ⁶ 

No one knows what will happen;

who can tell him what will happen in the future? ⁷ 

Proverbs 17:16

17:16 Of what ⁸  use is money in the hand of a fool, ⁹ 

since he has no intention ¹⁰  of acquiring wisdom? ¹¹ 

Luke 12:18-20

12:18 Then ¹²  he said, ‘I ¹³  will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 12:19 And I will say to myself, ¹⁴  “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’ 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ¹⁵  will be demanded back from ¹⁶  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ¹⁷ 

[10:10]  ¹ tn The term “ax head” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity. The preceding noun “iron” functions as a metonymy of material (i.e., iron) for the object with which it is associated (i.e., ax head).

[10:10]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the workman) is implied, and has been specified in the translation for clarity

[10:10]  ³ tn The verb קלל in the Pilpel means “to sharpen; to make a blade sharp” (HALOT 1104 s.v. קלל 1).This denominative verb is derived from the rare noun II קָלַל “smooth; shiny” (referring to bronze; Ezek 1:7; Dan 10:6; HALOT 1105 s.v.). Sharpening the blade or head of a bronze ax will make it smooth and shiny. It is not derived from I קָלַל (qalal) “to treat light” or the noun I קְלָלָה (qÿlalah) “curse.” Nor is it related to I קָלַל “to shake” (Ezek 21:26); cf. HALOT 1104. BDB 886 s.v. קָלַל 2 erroneously relates it to I קָלַל, suggesting “to whet” or “to move quickly to and fro.”

[10:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “face.”

[10:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “strength.” The term וַחֲיָלִים (vakhayalim, conjunction + plural noun from חַיִל, khayil, “strength; efficiency”) is an example of a plural of intensification (GKC 397-98 §124.e). The point is that it is a waste of a great deal of strength and energy. If a person is not smart, he will have to use a lot of energy and waste his efficiency.

[10:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the fool multiplies words.” This line is best taken as the third line of a tricola encompassing 10:13-14a (NASB, NRSV, NJPS, Moffatt) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, NAB, ASV, NIV). Several versions capture the sense of this line well: “a fool prates on and on” (Moffatt) and “Yet the fool talks and talks!” (NJPS).

[10:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”

[17:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “why this?” The term זֶּה (zeh) is an enclitic use of the demonstrative pronoun for emphasis: “why ever” would this happen?

[17:16]  ⁹ sn The sense seems to be “What good is money” since what the fool needs cannot be bought? The verse is a rhetorical question stating that money would be wasted on a fool.

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there is no heart”; NASB “he has no (+ common TEV) sense”; NLT “has no heart for wisdom.”

[17:16]  ¹¹ sn W. McKane envisions a situation where the fool comes to a sage with a fee in hand, supposing that he can acquire a career as a sage, and this gives rise to the biting comment here: Why does the fool have money in his hands? To buy wisdom when he has no brains? (Proverbs [OTL], 505).

[12:18]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:18]  ¹³ sn Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.

[12:19]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[12:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ¹⁶ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.