King James Version

Ecclesiastes 10:2

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.

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Hebrew

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לֵ֤בlevcomfortablyלֵבnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “comfortably”, the ordinary formH3820the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything[phrase] care for, comfortably, consent, [idiom] considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart(-ed), [idiom] heed, [idiom] I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), [idiom] regard(-ed), [idiom]…חָכָם֙chakhamwise , manחָכָםadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “wise , man”, the ordinary formH2450wise, (i.e. intelligent, skilful or artful)cunning (man), subtil, (un-), wise((hearted), man).לִֽימִינ֔וֹliminvoto rightיָמִיןpreposition, noun, common, feminine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “to right”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3225the right hand or side (leg, eye) of a person or other object (as the stronger and more dexterous); locally, the south[phrase] left-handed, right (hand, side), south.וְלֵ֥בvelevand comfortablyלֵבconjunction, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “and comfortably”, the ordinary formH3820the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything[phrase] care for, comfortably, consent, [idiom] considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart(-ed), [idiom] heed, [idiom] I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), [idiom] regard(-ed), [idiom]…כְּסִ֖ילkesilfoolכְּסִילadjective, adjective, masculine, singular, absolute — “fool”, the ordinary formH3684properly, fat, i.e. (figuratively) stupid or sillyfool(-ish).לִשְׂמֹאלֽוֹlismolvoto leftשְׂמֹאולpreposition, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “to left”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8040properly, dark (as enveloped), i.e. the north; hence (by orientation), the left handleft (hand, side).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

A wise man's understanding is at his right hand; but a fool's understanding at his left.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.

Young’s Literal Translation

The heart of the wise [is] at his right hand, And the heart of a fool at his left.

World English Bible

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.

Darby Translation

The heart of a wise [man] is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.

Douay-Rheims

The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a fool is in his left hand.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

A wise man's understanding is at his right hand; but a fool's understanding at his left.

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καρδία σοφοῦ εἰς δεξιὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ καρδία ἄφρονος εἰς ἀριστερὸν αὐτοῦ.