Ecclesiastes 7:8-9

7:8 The end of a matter ¹  is better than its beginning;

likewise, patience ²  is better than pride. ³ 

7:9 Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, ⁴ 

for anger resides in the lap ⁵  of fools.

[7:8]  ¹ tn The term דָבָר (davar) denotes “matter; thing” here rather than “speech; word,” as the parallelism with “patience” suggests. The term was misunderstood as “speech; word” by the Vulgate (so also Douay).

[7:8]  ² tn Heb “the patient of spirit.”

[7:8]  ³ tn Heb “the proud of spirit.”

[7:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Do not be hasty in your spirit to become angry.”

[7:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “bosom.”