An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
An inheritance (may be) gotten hastily, [so the Qeri' reads, mªbohelet (H926 ); cf. Proverbs 28:20 ] at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed. The Kethibh reads, 'An inheritance, abominated (namely, by the Lord) at the beginning' (Hebrew, meboCHeleth. This is favoured by the antithetical contrast to "blessed," in the parallel clause. An inheritance, however goodly it looks, if it be cursed in its beginning, as being amassed by foul means, "shall not be blessed" in its "end" (Proverbs 13:11). Bad gains are tantamount to losses' (Hesiod) - [kaka kerdea is' ateesi].