Pengkhotbah 7:3

7:3 Sorrow ¹  is better than laughter,

because sober reflection ²  is good for the heart. ³ 

Pengkhotbah 7:5

Frivolous Living Versus Wisdom

7:5 It is better for a person to receive ⁴  a rebuke from those who are wise ⁵ 

than to listen to the song ⁶  of fools.

[7:3]  ¹ tn NEB suggests “grief”; NJPS, “vexation.”

[7:3]  ² tn Heb “in sadness of face there is good for the heart.”

[7:3]  ³ tn Or possibly “Though the face is sad, the heart may be glad.”

[7:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear.”

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “rebuke of the wise,” a subjective genitive (“the wise” administer the rebuke).

[7:5]  ⁶ tn Or “praise.” The antithetical parallelism between “rebuke” (גַּעֲרַת, ga’arat) 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, sÿkhoq) in 7:6 suggests simply frivolous merrymaking: “song of fools” (KJV, NASB, NIV, ASV, RSV, NRSV).