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13 At the beginning his words[a] are foolish
and at the end[b] his talk[c] is wicked madness,[d]

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 10:13 tn Heb “the words of his mouth.”
  2. Ecclesiastes 10:13 sn The terms “beginning” and “end” form a merism, a figure of speech in which two opposites are contrasted to indicate totality (e.g., Deut 6:7; Ps 139:8; Eccl 3:2-8). The words of a fool are madness from “start to finish.”
  3. Ecclesiastes 10:13 tn Heb “his mouth.”
  4. Ecclesiastes 10:13 tn Heb “madness of evil.”