karl, literally, i read "the image-of-the eyes [ MAR)E, n ] is better than the meanderings of the soul [ HALAK, n ]".
conjectured meaning: "think less and observe more". this fits well into the philosophy expressed in qohelet in general. i base my reading on the form HALAK (masoretic xataf patax), an abstract noun. pere might enlighten us more on this form. modern words of the same general family are $MAD, $KOL, GMAR, GVAV, PXAT, GRAR, KLAL, DRA$, P$A+, SRAQ, PRA+, SBAK, BDAL, SFAR, KFAR, GZAR, QRAV, S)OR, PGAM. their trade mark is P-shva. DLY, NHY, SXY, for naxei LH. i cannot say how many of them are biblical. meaning: HALAK (meander, motion, tendency. literally, the process of going(not quantifiable)). is close to: MAHALAK (move, way, distance, proceeding. literally: the result of going, as M(SH is the result of doing, same as MAX$AK the result of obscuring). but MHLK is used biblically to quantify distance: MHLK 3 YMYM: the result of a three day walk. since HALAK (n) may be confused with HLK (v) (which, i believe, is the case now!!!!), it is only used in smixut. i dont know if it appears more times in this way in BH. modern use: HALAK-RUAX mood/public tendency. literally: the way the wind/spirit is blowing. HALAK-NEPE$ psychological state, i.e. the way the soul goes. the meanders of the soul. HALAK-MAX$AVA: a thought process, a way of thinking etc. biblical use: i imagine is similar to the modern one in the sense that HALAK is used as meander (n). HALAK-NEPE$: the meander of the soul. reflections, thoughts, the inner dialogue, etc etc. also, under this interpretation, MR)H-(INIM (vision-of-the-eyes, smixut) is parallel to HALAK-NEPE$ (meandering-of-the-soul, smixut). ----------------------------- so, the way i see it, WHO walks in this phrase is the sole ... figuratively speaking.the problem i have with your and isaac's reading is exactly this: you do not make clear WHO does the walking and why. >>>But how do you get “being absorbed with thoughts” from HLK NP$? nir cohen >>>> On Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:42:06 -0800, K Randolph wrote > > On Fri, Jan 11, 2013 at 7:19 AM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. <[email protected]> > wrote: > karl, > > טוב מראה עינים מהלך־נפשׁ גם־זה הבל ורעות רוח > > 1. i think you should include with your questions an explanation > why you reject the usual interpretations, which remains an enigma > for most of us. i personally see nothing wrong with them here, that > would require a total grammatical reshuffle of the clause. >
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