Passage

Ecclesiastes 12.9-10

Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

7. and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it. 8. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.

9. And further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written uprightly, even words of truth.

The words of the wise are as goads; and as nails well fastened are the words of the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12. And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. (Ecclesiastes 12:7-12, ASV)

WEB

7. and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher. “All is vanity!”

9. Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs. 10. The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words, and that which was written blamelessly, words of truth.

The words of the wise are like goads; and like nails well fastened are words from the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12. Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. (Ecclesiastes 12:7-12, WEB)

KJV

7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. 8. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

9. And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. ^{moreover: or, the more wise the preacher was, etc} 10. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. ^{acceptable: Heb. words of delight}

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. 12. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. ^{study: or, reading} (Ecclesiastes 12:7-12, KJV)

YLT

7. And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, And the spirit returneth to God who gave it. 8. Vanity of vanities, said the preacher, the whole [is] vanity.

9. And further, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge, and gave ear, and sought out, he made right many similes. 10. The preacher sought to find out pleasing words, and, written [by] the upright, words of truth.

Words of the wise [are] as goads, and as fences planted [by] the masters of collections, they have been given by one shepherd. 12. And further, from these, my son, be warned; the making of many books hath no end, and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh. (Ecclesiastes 12:7-12, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD
TBD
TBD
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Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.