Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.
KJV
Parallel translations
4 additional translations▾
Parallel translations
4 additional translationsASV
Better is a handful, with quietness, than two handfuls with labor and striving after wind.
WEB
Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
YLT
`Better is a handful with quietness, than two handfuls with labour and vexation of spirit.'
DBT
Better is a handful with quietness, than both hands full with labour and pursuit of the wind.
About this book
Old Testament▾
About this book
Old TestamentEcclesiastes — Qohelet the Preacher — ''vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'' The book's relentless examination of life under the sun, resolving not in despair but in ''fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.''
- Author
- Traditional: Solomon (''son of David, king in Jerusalem''). Critical: a later Qohelet figure writing in Solomonic persona. §7.9 surfaces; Pastor Marc's drawer carries the position.
- Date
- Solomonic reading: c. 940 BC. Critical reading: Persian or early Hellenistic period (5th–3rd century BC).