Ecclesiastes 4:2

4:2 So I considered ¹  those who are dead and gone ² 

more fortunate than those who are still alive. ³ 

Ecclesiastes 6:8

6:8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ⁴ 

And what advantage ⁵  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ⁶ 

Ecclesiastes 2:17

2:17 So I loathed ⁷  life ⁸  because what

happens ⁹  on earth ¹⁰  seems awful to me;

for all the benefits of wisdom ¹¹  are futile – like chasing the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:15

4:15 I considered all the living who walk on earth, ¹² 

as well as the successor ¹³  who would arise ¹⁴  in his place.

Ecclesiastes 9:4-5

Better to Be Poor but Alive than Rich but Dead

9:4 But whoever is among ¹⁵  the living ¹⁶  has hope;

a live dog is better than a dead lion.

9:5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything;

they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears. ¹⁷ 

[4:2]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “the dead who had already died.”

[4:2]  ³ tn Heb “the living who are alive.”

[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.”

[2:17]  ⁷ tn Or “I hated.”

[2:17]  ⁸ tn The term הַחַיִּים (hakhayyim, “life”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, that which is associated with life, that is, the profitlessness and futility of human secular achievement.

[2:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “the deed that is done.” The root עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) is repeated in הַמַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה (hamma’aseh shenna’asah, “the deed that is done”) for emphasis. Here, the term “deed” does not refer to human accomplishment, as in 2:1-11, but to the fact of death that destroys any relative advantage of wisdom over folly (2:14a-16). Qoheleth metaphorically describes death as a “deed” that is “done” to man.

[2:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[2:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all,” referring here to the relative advantage of wisdom.

[4:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[4:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the second youth.” It is not clear whether “the second” (הַשֵּׁנִי, hasheni) refers to the young man who succeeds the old king or a second youthful successor.

[4:15]  ¹² tn The verb עָמַד (’amad, “to stand”) may denote “to arise; to appear; to come on the scene” (e.g., Ps 106:30; Dan 8:22, 23; 11:2-4; 12:1; Ezra 2:63; Neh 7:65); cf. BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד 6.a; HALOT 840 s.v. עמד 1.a.

[9:4]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the living.”

[9:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for their memory is forgotten.” The pronominal suffix is an objective genitive, “memory of them.”