(2.) =Good= is it =to go to the house of mourning, more than to go to the house of feasting, in which= (full relative) =is= (emphatic) =the end of all the man= (the end of all humanity generally: every real biography is a tragedy and ends with a death), =and the living= one =will give it to his heart.= 3 ¹Sorrow _is_ better than │ (4.) Good is disappointment laughter: for by the sadness │ above laughter; for by spoiling of the countenance the heart │ the features the heart is is made better. │ improved. │ ¹ _Or_, anger. │ (3.) =Good= is =vexation= (the vexation of disappointment――see chapter i. 18, references) =above laughter; for in= the =evil= (concrete, and therefore an evil or distortion) of =the faces= (plural, but פנים is so generally, as the face is double) =is bettered= (a _pe. jud_ verb, with double _jud_) the =heart=. I think the equivoke here is, ‘the worse one looks, the better one gets.’ 4 The heart of the wise _is_ │ That heart of the wise which is in the house of mourning; but │ in the house of the mourning, the heart of fools _is_ in the │ when the heart of the befooled house of mirth. │ is in the house of mirth. (4.) =The heart= of =wise ones= (as ‘heart’ is repeated again, it gives the idea of ‘that heart’ spoken of before. This, however, as occurring in a new clause containing a fresh sentiment, must not be pressed too far) is =in= the =house of mourning, and= the =heart of befooled ones in= the =house of rejoicing.= This aphorism is very suggestive: the heart of the wise is improved in the house of sadness; fools, or rather befooled ones, who are mistaken with their own joy, are improved in the house of feasting, but it is an improvement in evil. This equivoke the rendering of the LXX. preserves. 5 _It is_ better to hear the │ (5.) Good is it to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a │ rebuke of the wise, more than man to hear the song of fools. │ that any should hear the song │ of the befooled. (5.) =Good= is it =to hear= the =rebuke= of a =wise one= (גערת occurs in this book here only, but at Proverbs xiii. 1, 8, xvii. 10), =above= a =man= (_i.e._ any one) =hearing a song= of =befooled ones= (the hiphil form is here especially to be noticed, ‘many befooled ones sing;’ as Jeremy Taylor says, ‘We commonly enter singing into the snare.’ Ginsburg would amend this passage by relegating the איש to the first clause; but this is to miss the point, which is, that ‘it is better to listen to a wise rebuking, than for _any one_ to hear the song of the befooled’).