Ecc 6:8 | NET2full | STEP | So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool ? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive ?

‏ Ecclesiastes 6:8

8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ^{▼▼sn So what advantage does the wise man have over a fool? The rhetorical question in Hebrew implies a negative answer: the wise man has no absolute advantage over a fool in the sense that both will share the same fate: death. Qoheleth should not be misunderstood here as denying that wisdom has no relative advantage over folly; elsewhere he affirms that wisdom does yield some relative benefits in life (7:1-22). However, wisdom cannot deliver one from death.}
And what advantage ^{▼▼sn As in the preceding parallel line, this rhetorical question implies a negative answer (see the note after the word “fool” in the preceding line).} does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ^{▼▼tn Heb “What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”}