Sometimes very rich and famous people spend their last years living almost like hermits. Names like Howard Hughes and Elvis Presley come to mind. In verse 8 the words “he asked” are not in the original Hebrew. Nor are there any quotation marks; the ancient Hebrew has no such thing. The translators have supplied these items to clarify that the rich man is speaking to himself. We can see from this interesting little sidelight how thoroughly Solomon put himself into the other man’s situation. The Teacher