Ecclesiastes 7:25 New English Translation
True Righteousness and Wisdom Are Virtually Nonexistent
25 I tried[a] to understand, examine, and comprehend[b]
the role of[c] wisdom in the scheme of things,[d]
and to understand the stupidity of wickedness[e] and the insanity of folly.[f]
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Heb “I turned, I, even my heart.”
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Heb “to seek.”
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn The phrase “the role of” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn The phrase חָכְמָה וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן (khokhmah vekheshbon, “wisdom and the scheme of things”) is a hendiadys (a figure of speech in which two nouns connote one idea): “wisdom in the scheme of things.” This is similar to the hendiadys עִצְּבוֹנֵךְ וְהֵרֹנֵךְ (ʿitsevonekh veheronekh, “pain and childbearing”) which connotes “pain in childbearing” (Gen 3:16).
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Or “the evil of folly” The genitive construct phrase רֶשַׁע כֶּסֶל (reshaʿ kesel) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the wickedness of folly”) or as a genitive of attribute (“the folly of wickedness”). The English versions treat it in various ways: “wickedness of folly” (KJV); “wrong of folly” (YLT); “evil of folly” (NASB); “stupidity of wickedness” (NIV); “wickedness, stupidity” (NJPS); “wickedness is folly [or foolish]” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt), and “it is folly to be wicked” (NEB).
- Ecclesiastes 7:25 tn Or “the folly of madness” The genitive construct phrase וְהַסִּכְלוּת הוֹלֵלוֹת (vehassikhelut holelot) may be taken as a genitive of attribution (“the stupidity of wickedness”) or a genitive of attribute (“the evil of folly”). The phrase is rendered variously: “foolishness and madness” (KJV); “foolishness of madness” (NASB); “madness of folly” (NIV); “madness and folly” (NJPS); “the foolishness which is madness” (NEB); and “foolishness [or folly] is madness” (ASV, NAB, NRSV, MLB, Moffatt).
New English Translation (NET)
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