Pengkhotbah 9:4

Better to Be Poor but Alive than Rich but Dead

9:4 But whoever is among ¹  the living ²  has hope;

a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Pengkhotbah 9:16

9:16 So I concluded that wisdom is better than might, ³ 

but a poor man’s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens ⁴  to his advice. ⁵ 

[9:4]  ¹ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “is chosen, selected.” The translation follows the marginal reading (Qere), “is joined.” See BDB 288 s.v. חָבַר Pu.

[9:4]  ² tn Heb “all the living.”

[9:16]  ³ tn Or “power.”

[9:16]  ⁴ tn The participle form נִשְׁמָעִים (nishma’im, Niphal participle mpl from שָׁמַע, “to listen”) is used verbally to emphasize a continual, durative, gnomic action.

[9:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “his words are never listened to.”