Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageSo I proclaimed the dead—those who have already died—more blessed than the living who are still alive.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GSo I declared the dead—those who have already died—more fortunate than the living who are still alive.
KJV
King James VersionWherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleSo I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.
Footnotes
The verb שִׁבַּח (shivvach) means "to praise, extol, declare superior"—a provocative rhetorical choice. Qohelet is not passively observing; he is making a formal proclamation of praise for the dead, inverting wisdom's normal life-affirming posture. F.O.G renders "more fortunate" to stress the pragmatic, experiential advantage; F.O.G Message uses "more blessed" to let the theological irony cut harder against Israel's framework in which life and blessing were synonymous.
