# Ecclesiastes 7.2 **Book:** [Ecclesiastes](/codex/ecclesiastes/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 1. A good name is better than precious oil; and the day of death, 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 men; and the living will lay it to his heart.** > > 3. Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad. 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 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 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. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 1. A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death 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 men; and the living will lay it to his heart.** > > 3. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. Sorrow: or, Anger 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 1. Better [is] a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth. > > **2. Better to go unto a house of mourning, Than to go unto a house of banqueting, For that is the end of all men, And the living layeth [it] unto his heart.** > > 3. Better [is] sorrow than laughter, For by the sadness of the face the heart becometh better. 4. The heart of the wise [is] in a house of mourning, And the heart of fools in a house of mirth. (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4, YLT) ## 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; see Lexicon Roadmap._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Argument from the Fear of Death](/codex/argument-from-the-fear-of-death/) **Lexicon:** - [H3820 - lev](/codex/h3820-lev/) --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_ ## 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](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/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](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.