Unless we have studied ancient languages, identifying formal
Hebrew proverbs in the text of Ecclesiastes is a bit beyond most of us. To make
it easier, my edition of the ESV has displayed roughly a quarter of the 221 English verses
in the book with hanging indents instead of regular paragraphing, so that the reader
can distinguish poetry, proverbs or quotations from the Preacher’s ongoing narrative.
The highly subjective nature of this style treatment becomes
evident when we examine the same verses in other translations.