Ecclesiastes 4 Footnotes

4:5-6 These two proverbs illustrate the dialogue-like method of Hebrew Wisdom literature (see Pr 26:4-5). Verse 5 attacks the fool for his laziness (see Pr 24:33-34), and v. 6 teaches that a life of vexation through overwork is miserable (see Ps 127:2). The proverbs are set side by side to force the reader to consider the folly both of laziness and of working to exhaustion. Instead of going straight toward his point, the writer moved toward it from one direction, then another. The proverbs are not contradictory, but complementary.