Ecclesiastes 2:13

2:13 I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly, ¹ 

just as light is preferable to darkness:

Ecclesiastes 4:2

4:2 So I considered ²  those who are dead and gone ³ 

more fortunate than those who are still alive. ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 4:9

Labor is Beneficial When Its Rewards Are Shared

4:9 Two people are better than one,

because they can reap ⁵  more benefit ⁶  from their labor.

Ecclesiastes 6:8

6:8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ⁷ 

And what advantage ⁸  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ⁹ 

Ecclesiastes 3:20

3:20 Both go to the same place,

both come from the dust,

and to dust both return.

Ecclesiastes 9:4

Better to Be Poor but Alive than Rich but Dead

9:4 But whoever is among ¹⁰  the living ¹¹  has hope;

a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

3:19 For the fate of humans ¹²  and the fate of animals are the same:

As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath.

There is no advantage for humans over animals,

for both are fleeting.

Ecclesiastes 6:3

6:3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years –

even if he lives a long, long time, ¹³  but cannot enjoy his prosperity –

even if he were to live forever ¹⁴  –

I would say, “A stillborn child ¹⁵  is better off than he is!” ¹⁶ 

[2:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and I saw that there is profit for wisdom more than folly.”

[4:2]  ² tn The verb שָׁבַח (shavakh) has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) “to praise; to laud”; and (2) “to congratulate” (HALOT 1387 s.v. I שׁבח; BDB 986 s.v. II שָׁבַח). The LXX translated it as ἐπῄνεσα (ephnesa, “I praised”). The English versions reflect the range of possible meanings: “praised” (KJV, ASV, Douay); “congratulated” (MLB, NASB); “declared/judged/accounted/thought…fortunate/happy” (NJPS, NEB, NIV, RSV, NRSV, NAB).

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “the dead who had already died.”

[4:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the living who are alive.”

[4:9]  ³ tn Heb “they have.”

[4:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “a good reward.”

[6:8]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “ What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”

[9:4]  ⁵ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “is chosen, selected.” The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), “is joined.” See BDB 288 s.v. חָבַר Pu.

[9:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “all the living.”

[3:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “of the sons of man.”

[6:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the days of his years are many.”

[6:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “he has no burial.” The phrase וְגַם־קְבוּרָה לֹא־הָיְתָה (vÿgam-qÿvurah lo’-haytah, “he even has no burial”) is traditionally treated as part of a description of the man’s sorry final state, that is, he is deprived of even a proper burial (KJV, NEB, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NJPS, MLB, Moffatt). However, the preceding parallel lines suggest that this a hyperbolic protasis: “If he were to live one hundred years…even if he were never buried [i.e., were to live forever]….” A similar idea occurs elsewhere (e.g., Pss 49:9; 89:48). See D. R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” BKCOT, 990.

[6:3]  ⁹ tn The noun נֶפֶל (nefel) denotes “miscarriage” and by metonymy of effect, “stillborn child” (e.g., Ps 58:9; Job 3:16; Eccl 6:3); cf. HALOT 711. The noun is related to the verb נָפַל (nafal, “to fall,” but occasionally “to be born”; see Isa 26:18); cf. HALOT 710 s.v. נפל 5.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ sn The point of 6:3-6 is that the futility of unenjoyed wealth is worse than the tragedy of being stillborn.