וְיֹתֵ֥ר מֵהֵ֖מָּה בְּנִ֣י הִזָּהֵ֑ר עֲשׂ֨וֹת סְפָרִ֤ים הַרְבֵּה֙ אֵ֣ין קֵ֔ץ וְלַ֥הַג הַרְבֵּ֖ה יְגִעַ֥ת בָּשָֽׂר׃
And furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And furthermore my son be admonished. More than the uprightness of the words of truth, the words written in the aforementioned books.
Kohelet Rabbah
“More than that, my son, be careful: Making many books has no end, and much prattle is exertion of the flesh” (Ecclesiastes 12:12).
“More than that [mehema], my son, be careful” – [of] confusion [mehuma], as anyone who introduces more than [these] twenty-four books into his house introduces confusion into his house, such as the book of ben Sira and the book of ben Tigla.56Ancient works of wisdom literature. “And much prattle is exertion of the flesh” – as they were given for prattle and were not given for exertion.57This is in contradistinction to the twenty-four books of the Bible, whose study requires exertion.
“More than that [mehema], my son, be careful” – [of] confusion [mehuma], as anyone who introduces more than [these] twenty-four books into his house introduces confusion into his house, such as the book of ben Sira and the book of ben Tigla.56Ancient works of wisdom literature. “And much prattle is exertion of the flesh” – as they were given for prattle and were not given for exertion.57This is in contradistinction to the twenty-four books of the Bible, whose study requires exertion.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes
My son be admonished. To observe the words of the Sages. Now if you ask, “If they are necessary, why were they not written down?”