The Hebrew particle rendered in Revised Standard Version as Again shows that another example is being presented parallel to the one given in verse 10. Expressions like “In the same way” or “Also” may be used to show the progression of thought. Like verse 10 this is a saying in support of the idea in verse 9; it also employs the numerals “one” and “two.”

If two lie together, they are warm assumes it is a cold night. For this reason Good News Translation adds “If it is cold….” The numeral “two” may need further description in some language groups; if so, the word “people” may be added for clarity. The conditional nature of the saying is changed to a general principle in Jerusalem Bible: “they keep warm, who sleep together.” Either a conditional or a general statement is acceptable here. In some languages such a general statement may be better expressed in the second person, “If you sleep two together, the two of you stay warm.”

The verb lie has a variety of uses in the Old Testament, including “lie down and die” (Isa 14.8), “to take a nap” (2 Sam 4.5), or as a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Gen 19.33). We do not know exactly in which way Qoheleth intends us to understand the word here, but the context seems to require a general meaning. If he is using it as a euphemism, translators will have to think about local euphemisms that express the same idea. “Sleep together” is a euphemism in English, and this is the Jerusalem Bible choice. If this is a euphemism it will also affect the sense of the word warm. As we do not know whether Qoheleth has something particular in mind, a good approach is to preserve the very general nature of the saying. This also means that we reject the Good News Translation addition “If it is cold….”

We may translate as follows:

• If two people lie together, they keep each other warm.

But how can one be warm alone?: following the same pattern as we noted in verse 10, this verse also discusses the problem a single individual has to face. The Hebrew is literally “with regard to the one [person], how will he get warm?” Translators have the choice of preserving the question form or of using a negative statement such as “there is no way one person can keep warm by himself,” or even “it is difficult for a single individual to get [or, keep] warm.”

Two possible translation models are:

• If two people lie together, they keep each other warm, but there is no way for one person to keep warm all alone!

• If you sleep two together, you both will keep warm. But if you are alone, how will you keep warm?

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 .