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Ecclesiastes 7:5
New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:5
New English Translation
Frivolous Living Versus Wisdom
5 It is better for a person to receive[a] a rebuke from those who are wise[b]
than to listen to the song[c] of fools.
Footnotes
- 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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