Ecclesiastes 6:8-10
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 What profit have the wise compared to fools, or what profit have the lowly in knowing how to conduct themselves in life? 9 “What the eyes see is better than what the desires wander after.”[a] This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
II. Qoheleth’s Conclusions
10 Whatever is, was long ago given its name, and human nature is known; mortals cannot contend in judgment with One who is stronger.[b]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 6:9 Compare the English proverb, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” However, it could also mean, “The seeing of the eyes is better than the wandering of the desire,” with the emphasis on the actions of seeing and desiring. Seeing is a way of possessing whereas desire, by definition, can remain frustrated and unfulfilled.
- 6:10–11 One who is stronger is, of course, God. The more vanity: contending with God is futile.
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