I applied my mind is the same phrase we saw in verse 13.

To know wisdom places the emphasis on experience, because the verb know, used three times in this verse (“know wisdom,” “know madness,” “perceive”), is often used in the sense of experiencing something (as in Gen 4.1). Qoheleth experiments to find out what wisdom truly is, and what difference it makes to a person’s life.

But Qoheleth also wanted to know madness and folly, that is, to know more about the foolish and evil things that people do, and what their negative and positive (if any) value was. Qoheleth describes two opposites or extremes, wisdom and folly, indicating that his experiment was thorough and comprehensive (see also 2.9-10).

Madness is not mental illness but is a word similar to foolishness. The special Hebrew term here is a word found only in Qoheleth. Translators should seek a word that does not refer to illness, so a word like “stupidity” would suit. The translator can use two equivalent words of similar meaning or use a single term to express the idea.

I perceived (literally “knew”) indicates that Qoheleth “learned,” “found out,” or “discovered” by this testing process that he was attempting something beyond his power to fully comprehend. This also refers back to the experiment to test both wisdom and folly. Because the demonstrative pronoun this leaves the meaning unclear, it can be clarified by adding a phrase like “in trying to do this.” This produces a possible translation, “I discovered, in trying to know these things, that I was…,” or “I came to the conclusion that trying to understand these things is like….”

For comments on a striving after wind, see verse 14. Qoheleth once again tells us he discovered that it is not possible to learn all about life; it is like trying to “shepherd the wind.”

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .