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Ecclesiastes 7:3-5
New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:3-5
New English Translation
3 Sorrow[a] is better than laughter,
because sober reflection[b] is good for the heart.[c]
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of merrymaking.[d]
Frivolous Living Versus Wisdom
5 It is better for a person to receive[e] a rebuke from those who are wise[f]
than to listen to the song[g] of fools.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:3 tn NEB suggests “grief”; NJPS, “vexation.”
- Ecclesiastes 7:3 tn Heb “in sadness of face there is good for the heart.”
- Ecclesiastes 7:3 tn Or possibly “Though the face is sad, the heart may be glad.”
- Ecclesiastes 7:4 sn The expression the house of merrymaking refers to a banquet where those who attend engage in self-indulgent feasting and riotous drinking.
- Ecclesiastes 7:5 tn Heb “hear.”
- Ecclesiastes 7:5 tn Heb “rebuke of the wise,” a subjective genitive (“the wise” administer the rebuke).
- Ecclesiastes 7:5 tn Or “praise.” The antithetical parallelism between “rebuke” (גַּעֲרַת, gaʿarat) 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, sekhoq) in 7:6 suggests simply frivolous merrymaking: “song of fools” (KJV, NASB, NIV, ASV, RSV, NRSV).
New English Translation (NET)
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