Ecc 10:13-14 | NET2full | STEP | At the beginning his words are foolish and at the end his talk is wicked madness ,

‏ Ecclesiastes 10:13-14

13 At the beginning his words ^{▼▼tn Heb “the words of his mouth.”} are foolish
and at the end ^{▼▼sn The terms “beginning” and “end” form a merism, a figure of speech in which two opposites are contrasted to indicate totality (e.g., Deut 6:7; Ps 139:8; Eccl 3:2-8). The words of a fool are madness from “start to finish.”} his talk ^{▼▼tn Heb “his mouth.”} is wicked madness, ^{▼▼tn Heb “madness of evil.”}
14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and the fool multiplies words.” This line is best taken as the third line of a tricola encompassing 10:13-14a (NASB, NRSV, NJPS, Moffatt, NIV, NAB) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, ASV). Several versions capture the sense of this line well: “a fool prates on and on” (Moffatt) and “Yet the fool talks and talks!” (NJPS).}
No one knows what will happen;
who can tell him what will happen in the future? ^{▼▼tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”}