The most outstanding feature of this description of the situation observed is the contrasting adjectives. On the one hand there is a city: it is “small,” and has only “few” inhabitants. On the other hand there is a king who is “great” and who built “great” ramparts against the city. The contrast and repetition of the adjective great indicate that this story is exaggerated. Almost certainly this is not a historical report but a story or parable.

There was a little city with few men in it: the opening Hebrew noun phrase is very brief, literally “A small city,” so Revised Standard Version has added There was for completeness. The translator is also free to incorporate into the translation such elements as are needed to introduce a story. Little city seems to mean that it is small in area, as the description goes on to add that there were only a few people living there. When we come to translate city, we should not think of a modern city; see the comments on 7.19. Perhaps the word “town” or “village” should be used, so long as it is possible that the place was built with a defensive wall surrounding it. A “walled village” or a “small town with a protective wall around it” would serve well.

With few men in it may mean that there were not many “people” living there (so Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, and others); but in this setting men is probably correct, as it was the men who were responsible for defending the town against attack.

And a great king came against it: the town now faces a difficult situation. A great king here probably means that the king is powerful rather than just famous or important. Good News Translation uses “powerful,” while Jerusalem Bible prefers “mighty.” Naturally the king did not come alone but at the head of his army. So king represents “the king and his army,” and this may need to be indicated in our translation. Translating for people unfamiliar with kingship may require us to say something like “leader of another tribe.” Came against is a Hebrew idiom. The clear sense is that they “attacked” the town, as Good News Translation states.

And besieged it: the Hebrew verb is “surround.” Generally speaking an attacking army would surround enemy towns to prevent anyone leaving to seek help, and to stop others coming to rescue them. The people in the town would soon run out of food and water and would be forced to surrender. In order to force entry to the walled town, the invading king and his army built siegeworks against it. The Hebrew term for this is the same one used in verse 12 for “snare,” but here in this military setting the term has a different meaning. Siegeworks are earth and rocks piled against the wall of a town as a platform from which to shoot arrows and rocks into it. Eventually the army is able to climb over the wall from it. The term “earth ramp” can be used instead of siegeworks, or a descriptive phrase saying what they did: “they piled up earth and rocks against the town wall.” It, the indirect object in the phrase against it, refers to the city wall.

A suggestion for translation is:

• Then a powerful king and his army attacked the town. They surrounded it and built earth ramps against its walls.

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 .