Ecclesiastes 10:3

10:3 Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, ¹ 

and shows ²  everyone what a fool he is. ³ 

Ecclesiastes 7:17

7:17 Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool;

otherwise ⁴  you might die before your time.

Ecclesiastes 2:19

2:19 Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?

Yet ⁵  he will be master over all the fruit of ⁶  my labor ⁷ 

for which I worked so wisely ⁸  on earth! ⁹ 

This also is futile!

Ecclesiastes 10:14

10:14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ¹⁰ 

No one knows what will happen;

who can tell him what will happen in the future? ¹¹ 

[10:3]  ¹ tn Heb “he lacks his heart.”

[10:3]  ² tn Heb “he tells everyone.”

[10:3]  ³ sn A fool’s lack of wisdom is obvious to everyone, even when he is engaged in the simple, ordinary actions of life.

[7:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “Why?” The question is rhetorical.

[2:19]  ⁷ tn The vav on וְיִשְׁלַט (vÿyishlat, conjunction + Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular from שָׁלַט, shalat, “to be master”) is adversative (“yet”).

[2:19]  ⁸ tn The phrase “the fruit of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity (see the following note on the word “labor”).

[2:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “my labor.” As in 2:18, the term עֲמָלִי (’amali, “my labor”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., my labor) for effect (i.e., fruit of my labor). The metonymy is recognized by several translations: “he will control all the wealth that I gained” (NJPS); “he will have control over all the fruits of my labor” (NAB); “he will have mastery over all the fruits of my labor” (NEB); “he will have control over all the fruit of my labor” (NASB); “he will be master over all my possessions” (MLB).

[2:19]  ¹⁰ tn An internal cognate accusative construction (accusative and verb from same root) is used for emphasis: שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי עֲמָלִי (’amali she’amalti, “my toil for which I had toiled”); see IBHS 167 §10.2.1g. The two verbs שֶׁעָמַלְתִּי וְשֶׁחָכַמְתִּי (she’amalti vÿshekhakhamti, “for which I had labored and for which I had acted wisely”) form a verbal hendiadys (two separate verbs used in association to communicate one idea): “for I had labored so wisely.” The second verb is used adverbially to modify the first verb, which functions in its full verbal sense.

[2:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[10:14]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”