Pengkhotbah 4:5

4:5 The fool folds his hands and does no work, ¹ 

so he has nothing to eat but his own flesh. ² 

Pengkhotbah 10:5

10:5 I have seen another ³  misfortune ⁴  on the earth: ⁵ 

It is an error a ruler makes. ⁶ 

[4:5]  ¹ tn Heb “the fool folds his hands.” The Hebrew idiom means that he does not work (e.g., Prov 6:10; 24:33). In the translation the words “and does no work” (which do not appear in the Hebrew text) have been supplied following the idiom to clarify what is meant.

[4:5]  ² tn Heb “and eats his own flesh.” Most English versions render the idiom literally: “and eats/consumes his flesh” (KJV, AS, NASB, NAB, RSV, NRSV, NJPS). However, a few versions attempt to explain the idiom: “and lets life go to ruin” (Moffatt), “and wastes away” (NEB), “and ruins himself” (NIV).

[10:5]  ³ tn The term “another” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that this is not the first “misfortune” described by the Teacher. See 5:13, 16; 6:1-2.

[10:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “an evil.”

[10:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[10:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “like an error that comes forth from the presence of a ruler.”