Ecclesiastes 3:16

The Problem of Injustice and Oppression

3:16 I saw something else on earth: ¹ 

In the place of justice, there was wickedness,

and in the place of fairness, ²  there was wickedness.

Ecclesiastes 4:3

4:3 But better than both is the one who has not been born ³ 

and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 5:16

5:16 This is another misfortune: ⁵ 

Just as he came, so will he go.

What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

Ecclesiastes 6:8

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

And what advantage ⁷  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ⁸ 

[3:16]  ¹ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[3:16]  ² tn Or “righteousness.”

[4:3]  ³ tn The word “born” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[5:16]  ⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “depressing misfortune” in v. 13.

[6:8]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “ What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”