Ecclesiastes (DSS)

Ecclesiastes Dead Sea Scrolls

4Q109 Qoheleta (Ecclesiastes)

Language: Hebrew

Date: 175-150 B.C.

Location: Qumran Cave 4

Contents: Ecclesiastes 5:14-18 (Hebrew 5:13-17); 6:1, 3-8, 12; 7:1-10, 19-20

Ecclesiastes 5

14 Those riches perish by misfortune, and if he has fathered a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go. And what profit does he have who labors for the wind? 17 All his days he also eats in darkness, he is frustrated, and has sickness and wrath. 18 Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. 

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Ecclesiastes 6

1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:

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3 If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that a stillborn child is better than he:[1] 4 for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.[2] 5 Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other. 6 Yes, though[3] he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don’t all go to one place? 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living?

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12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 7

1 A good name is better than fine perfume; and the day of death better than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all[4] men, and the living should take this to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made good. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. 6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. 7 Surely extortion makes the wise man foolish; and a bribe destroys perverts the understanding. 8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.

The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. 9 Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools. 10 Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” For you do not ask wisely about this.

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19 Wisdom is a strength helps to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city. 20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn’t sin.

[1] Word order is reversed, but the meaning is the same.

[2] This verse has a correction by a later scribe. The earlier scribe wrote: “For it comes in vanity, and in darkness his name is covered.”

[3] Words are different but the meaning is the same.

[4] The Hebrew word is in a different location.

4Q110 Qoheletb (Ecclesiastes)

Language: Hebrew

Date: 30 B.C. - 68 A.D.

Location: Qumran Cave 4

Contents: Ecclesiastes 1:10-14

Ecclesiastes 1

10 Is there a thing of which it may be said, “Behold, this is new?” It has been long ago, in the ages which were before us. 11 There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter that are to come, among those that shall come after.

12 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. 14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.