The two phrases house of mourning and house of mirth (or, feasting) are the major inclusions binding together verses 2-4. The saying here moves away from the “better” form to a contrastive form typical of sayings in the Book of Proverbs. Structurally there is a perfect balance between the two halves of the verse. The verse repeats the keyword “heart” (also found in 2 and 3) twice. This word provides the transition from verse 3 to verse 4: “improves the heart … (4) the heart of the wise….”

The heart of the wise: heart refers to the person’s mind or intellectual activity. The wise, of course, refers to wise people in general. In many languages it will be more natural to speak directly of a wise person than to speak of his heart or mind. Though the form is plural in Hebrew (literally “those who are wise”), in some languages a singular form, “wise person,” will be more natural.

The wise person’s mind is in the house of mourning. This latter is a noun phrase, so the verb must be supplied. Revised Standard Version is does not tell us very much. The sense is that the person’s thoughts focus on the significance of what happens in the house of mourning; hence Good News Translation “a wise person thinks about….” It is not impossible to maintain the “house of mourning” imagery; for example, New English Bible “a wise man’s thoughts are at home in the house of mourning” or New Jerusalem Bible “wise men are drawn to a house of mourning” approach the sense well.

Two possibilities for translation are:

• The wise person considers the significance of mourning [the dead].

• A wise person ponders the meaning of death.

But the heart of fools refers likewise to the mind or thought processes of fools. This second half of the verse provides the contrasting element typical of most proverbs. Though the Hebrew conjunction used here may also mean “and,” in this context it clearly means “but.” A concessive type of conjunction such as “while” may also be appropriate.

Is in the house of mirth is identical in meaning to the “house of feasting” in verse 2, though the term mirth is usually more positive than “feasting.” The link between “house of mirth” and the fool makes it quite clear that this is not a helpful or uplifting situation. Thus Good News Translation “thinking about happiness” is misleading. Again house of mirth is an expression for what happens in a place where people think only of enjoying themselves; it is not simply the place or house itself. It points to a totally careless attitude toward life, the mere seeking of pleasure. Translators should take care, however, that their translation of house of mirth does not refer to a house of prostitution. There is nothing in the context that would indicate this meaning.

Translators can follow these examples:

• while fools think only about having a good time.

• but fools would rather join those seeking a good time.

For the complete verse a model is:

• Wise people think about the meaning of death, but fools only think about enjoying themselves.

Good News Translation turns the order of the Hebrew sentences around and mentions foolish behavior first. In English this has the effect of putting emphasis on what a wise person should do and gives a concluding effect. If there are particular reasons for changing the order in other languages, the Good News Translation model is a possibility. However, we should make it obvious that the second example contrasts with the first by adding “but” or “however.” If not, it is probably wiser to leave the order of the original.

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 .