Ecclesiastes 4:12

4:12 Although an assailant may overpower ¹  one person,

two can withstand him.

Moreover, a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 6:8

6:8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ² 

And what advantage ³  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ⁴ 

[4:12]  ¹ tn The verbal root תקף means “to overpower; to prevail over” e.g., Job 14:20; 15:24; Eccl 4:12; 6:10 (HALOT 1786 s.v. תקף).

[6:8]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “ What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”