Ecclesiastes 5:5

5:5 It is better for you not to vow

than to vow and not pay it. ¹ 

Ecclesiastes 7:3

7:3 Sorrow ²  is better than laughter,

because sober reflection ³  is good for the heart. ⁴ 

Ecclesiastes 7:5

Frivolous Living Versus Wisdom

7:5 It is better for a person to receive ⁵  a rebuke from those who are wise ⁶ 

than to listen to the song ⁷  of fools.

[5:5]  ¹ tn The word “it” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[7:3]  ² tn NEB suggests “grief”; NJPS, “vexation.”

[7:3]  ³ tn Heb “in sadness of face there is good for the heart.”

[7:3]  ⁴ tn Or possibly “Though the face is sad, the heart may be glad.”

[7:5]  ³ tn Heb “hear.”

[7:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “rebuke of the wise,” a subjective genitive (“the wise” administer the rebuke).

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Or “praise.” The antithetical parallelism between “rebuke” (גַּעֲרַת, ga’arat) and “song” (שִׁיר, shir) suggests that the latter is figurative (metonymy of association) for praise/flattery which is “music” to the ears: “praise of fools” (NEB, NJPS) and “flattery of fools” (Douay). However, the collocation of “song” (שִׁיר) in 7:5 with “laughter” (שְׂחֹק, sÿkhoq) in 7:6 suggests simply frivolous merrymaking: “song of fools” (KJV, NASB, NIV, ASV, RSV, NRSV).