Ecclesiastes 10:13-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Ecclesiastes 10:13 tn Heb “the words of his mouth.”
2. Ecclesiastes 10:13 sn The terms “beginning” and “end” form a merism, a figure of speech in which two opposites are contrasted to indicate totality (e.g., Deut 6:7; Ps 139:8; Eccl 3:2-8). The words of a fool are madness from “start to finish.”
3. Ecclesiastes 10:13 tn Heb “his mouth.”
4. Ecclesiastes 10:13 tn Heb “madness of evil.”
5. Ecclesiastes 10:14 tn Heb “and the fool multiplies words.” This line is best taken as the third line of a tricola encompassing 10:13-14a (NASB, NRSV, NJPS, Moffatt) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, NAB, ASV, NIV). Several versions capture the sense of this line well: “a fool prates on and on” (Moffatt) and “Yet the fool talks and talks!” (NJPS).
6. Ecclesiastes 10:14 tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”