Ecc 10:13-14 | NETfull | 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 ^{▼▼ Heb “the words of his mouth.”} are foolish
and at the end ^{▼▼ 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 ^{▼▼ Heb “his mouth.”} is wicked madness, ^{▼▼ Heb “madness of evil.”}
14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ^{▼▼ 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) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, NAB, ASV, NIV). 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? ^{▼▼ Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”}