I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.
Parallel Translations
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I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.
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This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
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This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 9:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 8:16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night),
- Ecclesiastes 6:1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:
- Ecclesiastes 7:15 All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under…
Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it [seemed] great unto me:
Ver. 13. This wisdom also have I seen,] i.e., This fruit and effect of wisdom have I observed, that through the iniquity of the times, it is slighted and left unrewarded if joined with a mean condition.
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And it seemed great unto me.] Though not unto the many, who value not wisdom, if meanly habited, according to its worth, consider not that
“ Saepe sub attrita latitat sapientia veste, ”
that within that leathern purse may be a pearl of great price, and in those earthen pots abundance of golden treasure. "I know thy poverty, but thou art rich" {Rev 2:9} The cock on the dunghill understands not this: That which seems great to a Solomon, Multis pro vili sub pedibusque iacet. Stultorum enim plena sunt omnia.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This wisdom have I seen; I have observed this…
This wisdom have I seen; I have observed this among many other instances and effects of wisdom; which he seems to add for the commendation of wisdom, notwithstanding its insufficiency for man’s safety and happiness without God’s blessing.
It seemed great unto me; I judged it very praiseworthy, though others despised it, as it follows.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Solomon still recommends wisdom to us as necessary to…
Solomon still recommends wisdom to us as necessary to the preserving of our peace and the perfecting of our business, notwithstanding the vanities and crosses which human affairs are subject to. He had said (Ecc 9:11), Bread is not always to the wise; yet he would not therefore be thought either to disparage, or to discourage, wisdom, no, he still retains his principle, that wisdom excels folly as much as light excels darkness (Ecc 2:13), and we ought to love and embrace it, and be governed by it, for the sake of its own intrinsic worth, and the capacity it gives us of being serviceable to others, though we ourselves should not get wealth and preferment by it. This wisdom, that is, this which he here describes, wisdom which enables a man to serve his country out of pure affection to its interests, when he himself gains no advantage by it, no, not so much as thanks for his pains, or the reputation of it, this is the wisdom which, Solomon says, seemed great unto him, Ecc 9:13. A public spirit, in a private sphere, is wisdom which those who understand things that differ cannot but look upon as very magnificent.
I. Solomon here gives an instance, which probably was a case in fact, in some neighbouring country, of a poor man who with his wisdom did great service in a time of public distress and danger (Ecc 9:14): There was a little city (no great prize, whoever was master of it); there were but few men within it, to defend it, and men, if men of fortitude, are the best fortifications of a city; here were few men, and, because few, feeble, fearful, and ready to give up their city as not tenable. Against this little city a great king came with a numerous army, and besieged it, either in pride, or covetousness to possess it, or in revenge for some affront given him, to chastise and destroy it. Thinking it stronger than it was, he built great bulwarks against it, from which to batter it, and doubted not but in a little time to make himself master of it. What a great deal of unjust vexation do ambitious princes give to their harmless neighbours! This great king needed not fear this little city; why then should he frighten it? It would be little profit to him; why then should he put himself to such a great expense to gain it? But as unreasonable and insatiably greedy as little people sometimes are to lay house to house, and field to field, great kings often are to lay city to city, and province to province, that they may be placed alone in the earth, Isa 5:8. Did victory and success attend the strong? No; there was found in this little city, among the few men that were in it, one poor wise man - a wise man, and yet poor, and not preferred to any place of profit or power in the city; places of trust were not given to men according to their merit, and meetness for them, else such a wise man as this would not have been a poor man. Now, 1. Being wise, he served the city, though he was poor. In their distress they found him out (Jdg 11:7) and begged his advice and assistance; and he by his wisdom delivered the city, either by prudent instructions given to the besieged, directing them to some unthought-of stratagem for their own security, or by a prudent treaty with the besiegers, as the woman at Abel, Sa2 20:16. He did not upbraid them with the contempt they had put upon him, in leaving him out of their council, nor tell them he was poor and had nothing to lose, and therefore cared not what became of the city; but he did his best for it, and was blessed with success. Note, Private interests and personal resentments must always be sacrificed to public good and forgotten when the common welfare is concerned. 2. Being poor, he was slighted by the city, though he was wise and had been an instrument to save them all from ruin: No man remembered that same poor man; his good services were not taken notice of, no recompence was made him, no marks of honour were put upon him, but he lived in as much poverty and obscurity as he had done before. Riches were not to this man of understanding, nor favour to this man of skill. Many who have well-merited of their prince and country have been ill-paid; such an ungrateful world do we live in. It is well that useful men have a God to trust to, who will be their bountiful rewarder; for, among men, great services are often envied and rewarded with evil for good.
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II. From this instance he draws some useful inferences, looks upon it and receives instruction. 1. Hence he observes the great usefulness and excellency of wisdom, and what a blessing it makes men to their country: Wisdom is better than strength, Ecc 9:16. A prudent mind, which is the honour of a man, is to be preferred before a robust body, in which many of the brute creatures excel man. A man may by his wisdom effect that which he could never compass by his strength, and may overcome those by out-witting them who are able to overpower him. Nay, wisdom is better than weapons of war, offensive or defensive, Ecc 9:18. Wisdom, that is, religion and piety (for the wise man is here opposed to a sinner), is better than all military endowments or accoutrements, for it will engage God for us, and then we are safe in the greatest perils and successful in the greatest enterprises. If God be for us, who can be against us or stand before us? 2. Hence he observes the commanding force and power of wisdom, though it labour under external disadvantages (Ecc 9:17): The words of wise men are heard in quiet; what they speak, being spoken calmly and with deliberation (though, not being rich and in authority, they dare not speak aloud nor with any great assurance), will be hearkened to and regarded, will gain respect, nay, will gain the point, and sway with men more than the imperious clamour of him that rules among fools, who, like fools, chose him to be their ruler, for his noise and blustering, and, like fools, think he must by those methods carry the day with every body else. A few close arguments are worth a great many big words; and those will strike sail to fair reasoning who will answer those that hector and insult according to their folly. How forcible are right words! What is spoken wisely should be spoken calmly, and then it will be heard in quiet and calmly considered. But passion will lessen the force even of reason, instead of adding any force to it. 3. Hence he observes that wise and good men, notwithstanding this, must often content themselves with the satisfaction of having done good, or at least attempted it, and offered at it, when they cannot do the good they would do nor have the praise they should have. Wisdom capacitates a man to serve his neighbours, and he offers his service; but, alas! if he be poor his wisdom is despised and his words are not heard, Ecc 9:16. Many a man is buried alive in poverty and obscurity who, if he had but fit encouragement given him, might be a great blessing to the world; many a pearl is lost in its shell. But there is a day coming when wisdom and goodness shall be in honour, and the righteous shall shine forth.
4. From what he had observed of the great good which one wise and virtuous man may do he infers what a great deal of mischief one wicked man may do, and what a great deal of good he may be the hindrance of: One sinner destroyeth much good. (1.) As to himself, a sinful condition is a wasteful condition. How many of the good gifts both of nature and Providence does one sinner destroy and make waste of - good sense, good parts, good learning, a good disposition, a good estate, good meat, good drink, and abundance of God's good creatures, all made use of in the service of sin, and so destroyed and lost, and the end of giving them frustrated and perverted! He who destroys his own soul destroys much good. (2.) As to others, what a great deal of mischief may one wicked man do in a town or country! One sinner, who makes it his business to debauch others, may defeat and frustrate the intentions of a great many good laws and a great deal of good preaching, and draw many into his pernicious ways; one sinner may be the ruin of a town, as one Achan troubled the whole camp of Israel. The wise man who delivered the city would have had his due respect and recompence for it but that some one sinner hindered it, and invidiously diminished the service. And many a good project, well laid for the public welfare, had been destroyed by some one subtle adversary to it. The wisdom of some would have healed the nation, but, through the wickedness of a few, it would not be healed. See who are a kingdom's friends and enemies, if one saint does much good, and one sinner destroys much good.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain This wisdom have I seen also under the sun,....…
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun,.... Or, "this also I have seen under the sun, even wisdom" (h): besides those things he had, just now observed, he took notice that there was such a thing as wisdom among men; though success did not always attend the wise, the understanding, and skilful; and though there was so much ignorance in men, of their own time, and were so easily and suddenly ensnared in an evil time;
and it seemed great unto me; Solomon had a high value for wisdom, and he still retained the same sentiments of it he had before, in Ecc 2:13, of which he gives the following instance.
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(h) "Hoc etiam vidi sub sole, nempe sapientiam", Tigurine version; "etiam hoc vidi, sapientiam sub sole", Cocceius; "etiam hoc vidi, videlicet, sapientiam sub sole", Gejerus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain This wisdom - I have observed this among many…
This wisdom - I have observed this among many other instances of wisdom. Which he adds for the commendation of wisdom, notwithstanding its insufficiency for man's happiness without God's blessing.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ecc 9:13-16. This wisdom have I seen — I…
Ecc 9:13-16. This wisdom have I seen — I have observed this among many other instances and effects of wisdom. Which he adds for the commendation of wisdom, notwithstanding its insufficiency for man’s safety and happiness without God’s blessing. And it seemed great unto me — I judged it very praiseworthy, though others despised it, as it follows. There was a little city, &c. — It is doubtful whether Solomon be here relating a certain fact which had occurred in some neighbouring country, or delivering a parable to represent the value of wisdom, and the ingratitude and neglect with which those who have greatly benefited others by it, are often treated by them. St. Jerome, as appears by the following paraphrase, considers him as alluding to several facts of the same or a similar kind, “It hath often been seen that a small city and few inhabitants, being beset by an army of innumerable enemies, and besieged so straitly that they were in danger, if not other ways, of perishing by famine; were, on a sudden, contrary to all men’s expectation, delivered by a mean person, who, having more wisdom than all the great and powerful citizens, thought of a way to save them, when they gave themselves up for lost, and effected that of which they utterly despaired. And yet, O the ungratefulness of mankind! after the siege was raised, no one thought of this poor man;” namely, to give him thanks, much less to reward him for their safety. “It sets forth,” says Lord Bacon, “the depraved and malignant nature of mankind; who, in extremities and straits commonly flee to men of wisdom and courage, whom before they despised; but, so soon as the storm is over, they become unthankful wretches to their preservers.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Or, Also this have I seen - wisdom under…
Or, Also this have I seen - wisdom under the sun, and great it seemed to me.
From this verse to the end of Eccl. 10, the writer inculcates, in a series of proverbs, wisdom in contrast to folly, as the best remedy in the present life to the evil of vanity.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Rather, "I have seen wisdom of this kind also,"…
Rather, "I have seen wisdom of this kind also," that is, exhibited in the way which is described in what follows [MAURER].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. The inability of wisdom to benefit its possessor,…
13. The inability of wisdom to benefit its possessor, as regarded from the personal and egoistic point of view, is illustrated by an instance.
This wisdom — That is, this display of “wisdom,” I once saw. Under the sun, is emphatic, as meaning, with my own eyes, or in my own lifetime.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. This wisdom have I seen also] The Debater…
13. This wisdom have I seen also] The Debater points the moral of his previous maxim by a special illustration and it can scarcely be doubted that it was one which his first readers would recognise, though the nature of his method led him to speak as in hints and dark sayings, eschewing the historical element altogether, except so far as men might be able to read between the lines.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 13-16. Section 9. That wisdom, even when it…
Vers. 13-16. Section 9. That wisdom, even when it does good service, is not always rewarded, is shown by an example.
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun; better, as the Septuagint, This also I saw to be wisdom under the sun. The experience which follows he recognized as an instance of worldly wisdom. To what special event he alludes is quite unknown. Probably the circumstance was familiar to his contemporaries. It is not to be considered as an allegory, though of course it is capable of spiritual application. The event in Bible history most like it is the preservation of Abel-Beth-maachah by the counsel of the wise woman (whose name is forgotten) narrated in 2Sa_20:15-22. And it seemed great unto me; Septuagint, Kailh ejsti pro, "And it is great before me." To my mind it appeared an important example. (comp. Est_10:3) Some critics who contend for the Solomonic authorship of our book, see here an allegorical reference to the foreseen revolt of Jeroboam, whose insurrection had been opposed by certain wise statesmen, but had been carried out in opposition to their counsel. Wordsworth considers that the apologue may be illustrated by the history of Jerusalem, when great powers were arrayed against it in the time of Isaiah, and the prophet by his prayers and exhortations delivered it, (2Ki_19:2, 2Ki_19:6, 2Ki_19:20) but was wholly disregarded afterwards, nay, was put to death by the son of the king whom he saved. But all this is nihil ad rem. As Plautus says, "Haec quidem deliramenta loquitur.
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Vers. 13-18.
The parable of the little city.
I THE PARABLE.
1. The picture delineated. A little city threatened by a powerful assailant, deserted through fear by the main body of its inhabitants, and occupied by a small garrison of men capable of bearing arms, among them a poor wise man. Advancing against it a mighty monarch, who besieges and storms it with armies and engines, but is ultimately compelled to raise the siege by the skill of the aforesaid wise poor man.
2. The historical foundation. Probably
1. the deliverance of Abel-Beth-maachah through the wisdom of a wise (2Sa_20:15-22) (Wright); or
2. some event not recorded in history, but well known to the public for whom the Preacher wrote (Graetz); rather than
3. an incident which may have occurred in the siege of Dora by Antiochus the Great, in B.C. 218 (Hitzig), since Josephus ("Ant.," 13:7. 2), who describes this siege, relates nothing corresponding to the Preacher"s statements, and certainly does not mention its deliverance by any wise man, either rich or poor.
3. Some suggestive parallels. Incidents resembling that to which the Preacher here alludes may have happened often; as e.g. the deliverance of Athens by the counsel of Themistocles (Smith"s "History of Greece," 19. Thucydides, 1:74), and of Syracuse by the skill of Archimedes, who for a time at least delayed the capture of the city by the wonderful machines with which he opposed the enemy"s attacks (Livy, 24:34), according to some doubtful accounts, setting fire to their ships by means of mirrors. 4. Spiritual applications.
(1) "The poor man with his delivering wisdom is an image of Israel" (Hengstenberg); on which hypothesis the little city will be the suffering Hebrew nation, and the great king their Persian oppressors.
(2) "The beleaguered city is the life of the individual; the great king who lays siege to it is death and the judgment of the Lord" (Wangemann).
(3) "The little city is the Church of God; the great king Satan, the prince of hell and darkness; the poor wise man, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Fausset).
II THE LESSONS OF THE PARABLE.
1. That wisdom and poverty are frequently allied. Not always, Solomon being witness; (1Ki_3:12, 1Ki_3:13) but mostly, God seldom bestowing all his gifts upon one individual, but distributing them according to his good pleasure to one wealth and to another wisdom, dividing to each severally as he will. (1Co_12:11) Nor is it difficult to discern in this marks of special wisdom and goodness.
(1) Wisdom in not always conjoining with riches high mental endowments; partly in case of leading to undue exaltation on the part of the recipients, and partly to convince such recipients of the worthlessness of wealth apart from knowledge secular, and much more religious, and to show observers how hard it is to guide wealth without wisdom, especially the highest.
(2) Goodness towards the poor, whose scanty share of this world"s goods he not infrequently compensates with great intellectual capacity, and even with celestial wisdom. Nothing more remarkable than the number of the world"s thinkers, philosophers, poets, painters, writers, astronomers, chemists, inventors, and discoverers that have sprung from the poor; while in religion it is everywhere apparent that God hath not chosen the mighty and the noble and the wealthy as such, but rather the poor of this world, rich in faith, to be heirs of the kingdom (1Co_1:26, 1Co_1:27; Jam_2:5)
2. That wisdom is superior to force. "Wisdom is better than strength," and" wisdom is better than weapons of war.
(1) True of merely human wisdom. Illustrations almost numberless might be furnished of the superiority of wisdom to force, in the way both of overcoming force and of effecting what force is unable to accomplish. Had the Preacher lived today, he might have penned a brilliant commentary on his own text in both of these respects. The history of modern civilization but another name for the record of man"s victories over brute strength and material force through the power of mind; and the all-important moral of its story, that vast as are nature"s powers, huge, gigantic, and irresistible as are the forces slumbering everywhere within its bosom, the human intellect can control and combine these, and compel them to subserve its purposes and schemes.
(2) True of wisdom spiritual and Divine. Not only is this not destructible by force, else it would have long since been banished from the world, but it can stand up, as through past centuries it has done, against the fiercest assaults, fixed and immovable, smiling defiance on every assailant, feeling inwardly confident that no weapon formed against her shall prosper, (Isa_54:17) and that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against; (Mat_16:18) yea, anticipating confidently the advent of a time when she should trample this grim adversary of brute force beneath her feet, and even chase it from the field. (Isa_11:9 Isa_60:18) And more, she can do what mere force and weapons of war are powerless to accomplish change hearts of unbelief and sin into hearts of faith and holiness, rein in, hold down, and even crush out impure lusts and fierce passions, tame and sway human wills, and convert children of the devil into sons of God (Job_28:28; Jam_3:17)
3. That wisdom mostly speaks into unwilling ears. "Nevertheless the poor man"s wisdom is despised." Partly because of the world"s want of appreciation of the intrinsic excellence of wisdom, the world usually possessing a keener relish and finer instinct for folly; and partly, perhaps chiefly, because of the wise man"s poverty. At all events, it has usually been the world"s way to treat its wise men with disdain. The picture of wisdom crying aloud in the street into unheeding ears (Pro_1:20-25) has often been reproduced, as e.g. in the persons of Jehovah"s prophets (Lev_26:43; 2Ch_36:16; Isa_53:1; Mat_21:34-36) and of Christ. (Joh_5:40) To this day the world"s treatmentof Christ is not dissimilar, his words of wisdom being by men for the most part despised, and in particular the special wisdom he displayed in effecting their deliverance from sin and Satan by himself submitting to shame and death, and extending to them the offer of a full and free forgiveness, being frequently regarded with scorn and contempt.
4. That wisdom is more influential than folly. "The words of the wise," spoken "in quiet, are more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools," or that is the ringleader among fools, their very prince and chief. This assertion may seem to conflict with that of the preceding verse, but in reality it does not. The noisy demagogue who by sheer vociferation stirs the unthinking populace may appear to be more influential than the quietly speaking man of wisdom, but in the long run it is the latter that prevails. After all, it is ideas that move the world, in science, in philosophy, in religion, and these have their birth in meditative souls rather than in fiery spirits, and diffuse themselves, not amid the tempests of passion, but through the medium of calm and earnest speech. Remarkably was this exemplified in Christ read in connection Col_2:3; Isa_42:3; and to this day the most powerful force operating in and on society is not that of eloquence, or of intellect, or of learning, all confessedly influential, but of goodness, which works silently and often out of sight like leaven.
5. That wisdom is commonly repaid with ingratitude. "No man remembered that same poor man." The Preacher says it with a touch of sadness, as if after all it was a strange and almost a new thing beneath the sun which it is not. Whether the wise woman who saved the city Abel was remembered by her citizens is not recorded; but history reports that Themistocles, who delivered Athens from the Persians, was afterwards ostracized by his countrymen. Alas! ingratitude has never been an uncommon sin among men. Pharaoh"s butler has had many a successor. (Gen_40:2-8) The world has never been guilty of overlauding its benefactors or overloading them with gratitude. Rather the poet accurately likens Time to a sturdy beggar with a wallet on his back
Wherein he doth put alms for oblivion, A great-sized monster of ingratitudes.
And goes on to add
Those scraps are good deeds past, which are devoured As fast as they are made, forgot as soon As done," etc. ("Troilus and Cressida," act 3. sc. 3. )
Nor is it merely the world of which such ingratitude can be predicted, but the Church also has been too often guilty of forgetting him to whom she owes her deliverance. How many of his words, for instance, are not heard by those who profess to have been redeemed and saved by him words of counsel for the path of duty, words of comfort for the day of trial, words of caution for the hour of danger! And yet the remembrance of these would be the highest tribute of gratitude they could offer their Divine Redeemer.
Vers. 13-18.
The praise of wisdom.
It has been remarked that, whilst the leading idea of religion in the earliest stage of Israel"s history was the Law, this idea took at a later period the form of wisdom. It is not well to discriminate too carefully between that wisdom which is shown in great works and that which is synonymous with piety. All light is from God, and there is no holier prayer than that in his light we may see light. It is a commonplace remark that men may be clever and yet not good; but every reflecting mind discovers in a character so described a lack of harmony. The philosopher, the sage, the leader in learning or science, should, beyond all men, be religious. "An undevout astronomer is mad." No more melancholy and pitiable spectacle is to be seen on earth than the able man whose self-confidence and vanity have led him into atheism. In considering the case of the truly wise man, it is well to regard him as displaying wisdom not only upon the lower but upon the higher plane.
I WISDOM MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH LOWLY STATION. Solomon was an example of an illustrious and splendid king who was famed for wisdom. But the instance of the text is striking; poverty and obscurity are not necessarily inconsistent with unusual insight, ability, and skill.
II WISDOM MAY ACCOMPLISH GREAT WORKS WITH SMALL MEANS. A mighty king with a numerous and formidable army besieges a small city. How shall the besieged offer resistance to the foe? The inhabitants are few, feeble, ill-armed, half-starved; and their case seems hopeless. But a citizen hitherto unknown, with no apparent resources, arises to lead the dispirited and helpless defenders. Whether by some marvelous device, or by the magnetic power of his presence and spirit, he accomplishes a task which seemed impossible vanquishes the besiegers and raises the siege. Such things have been, and they are a rebuke to our worldly calculations, and an inspiration to courage and to faith.
III WISDOM MAY NEVERTHELESS IN PUBLIC BE OVERLOOKED AND DESPISED. "No man remembered that same poor man." How often does it happen that the real originator, the prime mover, gains no credit for the enterprise which he conceived, and for whose success he prepared the way; whilst praise is given to some person of social or political eminence who joined the movement when its success was assured! It is "the way of the world.
IV YET WISDOM, UNHONORED IN PUBLIC, MAY BE ACKNOWLEDGED IN SECRET AND IN QUIETNESS. Those who look below the surface and are not dazzled by external splendor, those who listen, not merely to the earthquake, the thunder, and the tempest, but to the "still, small voice," discover the truly wise, and, in their heart of hearts, render to them sincere honor. Much more he who seeth in secret recognizes the services of his lowly, unnoticed servants who use their gifts for his glory, and work in obscurity to promote his kingdom, by whose toil and prayer cities are sanctified and saved.
V THUS WISDOM IS SEEN TO BE THE BEST OF ALL POSSESSIONS AND QUALITIES. There is greatness which consists in outward splendor, and this may awe the vulgar, may dazzle the imagination of the unthinking. But in the sight of God and of just men, true greatness is that of the spirit; and the truly wise shine with a luster which poverty and obscurity cannot hide, and which the lapse of ages cannot dim. T.
Vers. 13-18.
Wisdom and strength.
The picture which is here drawn is both picture and parable; it portrays a constantly recurring scene in human history. It speaks to us of
I THE RANGE OF WISDOM. Wisdom is a word that covers many things; its import varies much. It includes:
1. Knowledge; familiarity with the objects and the laws of nature, and with the ways and the history of mankind.
2. Keenness of intellect; that quickness of perception and subtlety of understanding which sees through the devices of other men, and keeps a watchful eye upon all that is passing, always ready to take advantage of another"s mistake.
3. Sagacity; that nobler quality which forecasts the future; which weighs well many considerations of various kinds; which baffles the designs of the wicked; which defeats the machinations and the measures of the strong (vers. 14, 15); which is worth far more than much enginery (ver. 18); which builds up great institutions; which goes forth on hazardous and yet admirable enterprises.
4. Wisdom itself; that which is more properly considered and called such, viz. the discernment of the true end, with the adoption of the best means of attaining it; and this applied not merely to the particulars of human life, but to human life itself; the determination to seek that good thing, as our true heritage, which is in harmony with the will of God, and to seek it in the divinely appointed way. To us who live in this Christian era, and to whom Jesus Christ is himself "the Wisdom of God," this is found in seeking and finding, in trusting and following, in loving and serving him.
II ITS FAILURE TO BE APPRECIATED. "No man remembered that same poor man." Wisdom in each one of its particular spheres is valuable; in the larger and higher spheres it is of very great account, being far more effective than any quantity of mere material force or of worldly wealth; in the highest sphere of all it is simply invaluable. But it is liable to be disregarded, especially if it be found in the person of poverty and obscurity.
1. It is often forgotten, and thus overlooked (text).
2. It is either rejected or visited with contumely in the person of its author. "Is not this the carpenter"s Son?" it is asked. "And they were offended in him," it is added. Many a man, wit h much learning in his head, much shrewdness in his speech, much weight in his counsel. much wisdom in his soul, walks, unrecognized and unhonored, along some very lowly path of life.
III ITS REWARD.
1. It is often heeded when mere noise and station are disregarded. "The words of the wise are listened to with more pleasure than the loud behests of a foolish ruler (ver. 17)" (Cox). And it is a satisfaction to the wise that they do often prevail in their quietness and their obscurity when the clamorous and the consequential are dismissed as they deserve to be.
2. The time will come when they who speak the truth will gain the ear of the world; there are generations to come, and we may leave our reputation to them, as many of the wisest and worthiest of our race have done.
3. To be useful is a better reward than to be applauded or to be enriched; how much better to have "delivered the city" than to have been honored by it!
4. Our record is on high. C.
Vers. 13-16.
An apologue.
The truth of the aphorism, that "the battle is not to the strong nor yet favor to men of skill" (ver. 11), is illustrated by the Preacher in a striking little story or apologue, taken doubtless from the history of" some campaign familiar to his readers. It represents in a vivid manner the power of wisdom, and also the ungrateful treatment which the possessor of it frequently receives from those who have found him a deliverer in time of danger. A little city, with few in it to defend it, is besieged by a great king. The place is surrounded by his army, and round about it great mounds are erected from which missiles are hurled into it. All hope seems to be gone; no material forces which the besieged can muster for their defense are at all adequate to repel the assailants. When suddenly some poor man, whose name was perhaps known to few in the city, delivers it by his wisdom. The great king and his army are compelled to retire baffled from before the walls of the city, which probably when they first beheld them moved them to scornful laughter by their apparent insignificance and weakness. The picture is not overdrawn; history affords many parallel instances. The defense of Syracuse against the Romans by Archimedes the mathematician (Livy, 24:34), of Londonderry against James II by Walker, and in later times of Antwerp by Carnot (Alison, "Europe," 87.), show how inferior material is to moral force. This is the bright side of the picture. "Wisdom is better than strength" (ver. 16); "wisdom is better than weapons of war" (ver. 18). The dark side is that it is often rewarded by the basest ingratitude. It was the wisdom of a poor man that delivered the city in which he dwelt; but when the danger was past he sank again into obscurity. No one thought of him as he deserved to be thought of. The public attention was caught by some new figure, and the savior of the city remained as poor and unnoticed as he had been before the great crisis in which his wisdom had been of such great service. Had he been high-born and rich, his great services would have been acknowledged in some notable manner; but the meanness of his surroundings obscured his merit in the eyes of the thoughtless multitude. It was this vulgar failing which prompted some to despise wisdom itself incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, and to ask scornfully, "Is not this the carpenter?" (Mar_6:2, 3) Wisdom is unassuming, calm, and deliberate (Isa_42:2; Mat_12:19) of yet fall of strength and resources, and the pity is that it should so often lose its reward, and the public attention be caught by the blustering cry of fools (ver. 17). It is, indeed, often a better defense than weapons of war; and therefore it is sad that it should sometimes be nullified by folly, that one perverse blunderer should sometimes be able through carelessness or passion to destroy all the defenses that wisdom has carefully erected. J.W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Ecc_9:13. This wisdom.] The special instance of the power…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Ecc_9:13. This wisdom.] The special instance of the power of wisdom related in the next verse.
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Ecc_9:14. Few men within it.] Not a city with a scanty population, but one possessing only a few fitting men capable of defending it.
Ecc_9:18. One sinner destroyeth much good.] One who is gifted with great physical energy, but destitute of wisdom. The coarsest qualities—the fierce attributes of the wild beast—are sufficient for the work of destruction.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Ecc_9:13-18
THE WORLD’S BENEFACTORS
The Royal Preacher turns to consider a strange anomaly that too often happens in a thoughtless and ungrateful generation. Men who have been the true workers and deliverers of their time have often been despised and forgotten. The world is ignorant, or guilty of neglect, of its true benefactors. How they work, and with what success, is considered here.
I. Their Instrument. Wisdom is the instrument by which they worked. It was a “wise man” who “delivered the city.” (Ecc_9:15.) Their words heard in quiet among the contemplative few have proved stronger than the edicts of the most potent rulers, yea even stronger than the power of warlike arms. (Ecc_9:17-18.) They have conferred real and permanent benefits upon their fellow men. For such a purpose, we observe,
1. That wisdom is the most fitting instrument. Man, with many natural disadvantages when compared with the lower forms of life beneath him, still holds his place in nature as the crown and head of all things by his superior knowledge. By means of wisdom, that knowledge is made to act in the direction of the greatest advantage. We may say that this instrument has a natural fitness for performing the truest and most lasting work. The highest natures use it, for “The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth, by understanding hath He established the heavens.” (Pro_3:19.) All work produced by other means, however loud and long the triumph, must end in confusion and overthrow. However big and imposing the work of fools, they shall at length be buried in the heaps they raise. Wisdom as an instrument may also be said to have a moral fitness. It tends to injure no one; its pure and just conquests are not stained by crime, and ravage, and slaughter. The tears of the widow and the orphan do not trouble its quiet enjoyment of victory. All true wisdom—whether strictly in the sphere of religion or outside of it—is from above; and coming down to earth pure from its native heaven, bears on the front of it the gifts of peace.
2. That it is the most potent instrument. “Wisdom is better than strength—better than weapons of war.” (Ecc_9:16; Ecc_9:18.) All work that is truly great and abiding commences in wise thought. The scheme of it is laid in silence in the utmost recesses of the mind until it assumes shape and substance in the palpable and accomplished fact. The material creation which is the standing illustration of the Divine power is but the Divine thought manifested. Brute force has narrow limits, moving with a constrained motion; but the power of wisdom is large, plentiful in resources, and free. Wisdom is the true director of all forces, without which they are wild, irregular, and destructive. It is the force which has urged humanity on in the upward path of high civilization, refinement, and goodness.
II. The Manner of their Working. In her method and manner of working, there is a style and habit appropriate to wisdom. She wields a quiet power, shunning all noise and loud display. “The words of wise men are heard in quiet.” This quality for quietness and sobriety is one of the chief characteristics of the deliverances and of the works of wisdom. All who would learn from her and receive her gifts must possess this quality.
1. Quietness promotes those conditions of mind most favourable to the reception of wisdom. All who enter her school must leave behind them the noise and tumult of petty ambition, boisterous self-assertion, and pride. Fools must either put away these things, or quit her courts. The still small voice of wisdom is only heard amidst the quietness of contemplation. We must enter this kingdom as a little child, with the qualities of teachableness and humility, putting away all positiveness and pride, which are ever noisy and demonstrative.
2. All the conquests of wisdom have been quietly won. Other victories have been prompted by ambition and attained by violence. The victories of wisdom, on the other hand, have been accomplished in those clear and lofty heights of contemplation far above the tumult and strife of human passion. Wisdom, with truth for her possession and substance, has been content to wait till the temporary advantages of error have passed away, and then she has quietly gathered in her spoils.
3. Quietness is the attribute of the greatest natures. The great thinkers of the world who have opened up for us new regions of truth, how quietly and silently they worked! We feel their power still across the ages of time. They seem to “rule our spirits from their urns.” The victories of religion over superstition and unbelief have been won by the steady witnessing to the truth, and the patience of suffering. He who came to conquer all hearts, and to lay the foundations of an everlasting kingdom, was distinguished by his quiet manner of working and freedom from desire of display. He did not “strive nor cry,” nor was “His voice heard in the streets.” This quiet demeanour of wisdom is, in Ecc_9:17, shown in contrast with the boisterous manner in which folly is wont to display itself. “The ruler among fools” soon becomes the victim of the virulent contagion of folly, and utters injudicious commands with fierce and noisy circumstance.
III. Their Fate. (Ecc_9:15-16.) There are some exceptions, but the example hero related is a description of the fate of many wise and good men.
1. They are sometimes noticed and obeyed under the pressure of circumstances. In some dangerous crisis or great calamity, the wise man may rise to importance and regard. There are junctures of events in which the most careless and unreflecting men must turn to such for deliverance. When the enemy is at the gates, and the valour of mighty heroes is unavailing, he who can devise some wise project which saves the city, gains that approbation and fame so readily yielded to evident success. There are times when the wise man’s wisdom must be valued, even by the most thoughtless, as a precious commodity.
2. They are sometimes the victims of contumely and neglect. When the calamity is overpast, society soon learns to forget those who have served it in the crisis of danger. This fault of ingratitude appears in almost every little social circle, and has a constant illustration in the history of every nation and age. The world too willingly lets the names die of those who have blest it most. Those are not always the best and truest workers whose names stand in the front of history. It will be found that the world’s most real benefactors are those who took the most subordinate and retired part. Their work is undying in its effects, but their names have perished from all remembrance but that of God. Many a truly wise and great man has lived to be forgotten and despised. This is a base ingratitude, for it deprives such of their earthly reward. The barriers of wealth and social standing have often served to keep wise men from rising into just regard and fame. This wise man delivered the city; but he was poor, and that was quite sufficient to ensure his being despised.
3. Their work is often ruined. The essential good of their work cannot be destroyed, for it is an imperishable seed, which once having taken hold upon the world, leaves it not. But some of the immediate results of their work—fruits of patient toil and endurance—may be destroyed, which exploit only needs the natural endowments of the most thoughtless and wicked fool. (Ecc_9:18.) Physical strength—the power of social station—the boisterous impudence of ignorant and foolish men—may prevail over the wise and ruin his work. It requires but little talent to destroy, for it is within the province of any lusty fool to lay in ruins the labour and skill of years, or to obstruct the progress of some good and great work. From this subject, we learn both the power and the vanity of wisdom. The power, in that it is superior to strength, to numbers, to the voice of mere authority, or to the influence of social rank. It is the prime element in the world’s progress—the means of its regeneration. The vanity, in that it often fails, or at best has but a partial victory, through the stubborn and ignorant opposition of men.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Ecc_9:13. It had made a strong impression on his mind. The testimony which it bore to the value and efficacy of wisdom appeared to him to be most remarkable. On one side there was a king, backed by a powerful army, and having at his command, for the capture and destruction of the feebly-garrisoned city he had come to assail, all the arts and appliances of war. On the other side was a solitary individual, of no note or name, without wealth or station, or social influence, having no other strength than that which was derived from his own personal worth, and no other resources than those of a God-fearing, sagacious, and thoughtful spirit [Buchanan].
Wisdom without the advantages of wealth or station, yet securing regard and attention to itself, is so rare a spectacle, that the wise themselves, at the sight of it, may well stand amazed. In a perfect state of society, such a triumph would be too common to be wonderful.
Ecc_9:14. There is a baseness in oppression which allows no rights to the defenceless and the weak.
The oppressed have often on their side an unknown and unsuspected power which avails for deliverance, and by which the most confident ambition is defeated.
The “little city” of the Church of God has often been besieged, and the enemy has prepared to celebrate the victory over an extinguished Faith. But the tower of God has ever had brave defenders, strong in wisdom and in the might of goodness.
Ecc_9:15. A sudden calamity may serve to redeem the wise from neglect.
When the strong fail to deliver, and rank and authority are of no avail, wise men must be sought for. Such alone are the true defence of states.
That is a foolish and ignoble pride which refuses to acknowledge worth because it is not encrusted by wealth. Yet such is the way of the world,—“Slow rises worth by poverty depressed.”
What was it that rescued the nations of the ancient world from the universal heathenism in which they were sunk; from the gross superstitions and multiplied abominations of an all-prevailing idolatry? Not the poetry and literature, not the arts and philosophy, of Greece and Rome, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those humble peasants and fishermen, who issued from the upper chamber of some obscure street of Jerusalem, were the poor wise men who delivered the cities of the ancient world [Buchanan].
The pressure of necessity, or the claims of selfishness, may force admiration for the poor man’s wisdom, but such admiration expires before it has time to ripen into gratitude, or attain to the sturdy strength of a principle.
How hard is the condition of poverty, when social prejudice can overwhelm a man whose wisdom it has been compelled to own!
Ecc_9:16. The triumphs of wisdom over brute force and the terrible powers of nature, all of which it subdues under the sovereignty of man, are among its first fruits. It has also a surpassing excellence in that it imparts the power to discover and appreciate the order and fitness of things in the universe.
Wisdom is the living and intelligent director of all other forces, without which they can serve no useful end. In our investigation of the powers of nature, we cannot rest in the contemplation of forces and effects. We are bound to go on to mind—the greatest of all. Mind is the producer of all other powers, and therefore superior to them. That which is true, in this regard, of the Highest, is true also of man, under the necessary limitations of his position as a creature.
The more that wisdom spreads, the more human strength is saved, and the more is comfort enhanced. The bird who is about to build her nest next month, will toil as long and work as hard as the sparrows and swallows who frequented the temple in the time of Solomon, and the building will be no improvement on the nest of three thousand years ago. But if Solomon’s own palace were to be builded anew, modern skill could rear it much faster than Hiram’s masonry, and there are few houses in London which do not contain luxuries and accommodations which were lacking in the “house of the forest of Lebanon.” Already a pound of coals and a pint of water will do the work of a sturdy man; and with a week’s wages, a mechanic may now procure a library more comprehensive and more edifying than that which adorned the Tusculan villa,—nay, such a store of books as the wealth of Solomon could not command [Dr. J. Hamilton].
It requires but little intellectual sagacity to admire that wisdom which leads to some evident practical result. When self-interest is at stake, the meanest souls can assume a virtue. The steady recognition of wisdom, for her own sake, is only found in answering minds.
The poverty of Jesus, the incarnate Wisdom of God, was sufficient to bring upon Him one of the sharpest trials of His humiliation, which was that of being despised and overlooked.
Ecc_9:17. Quiet men—men of calm and dispassionate minds—give heed to the words of wisdom, though noisy fools may disregard them. Also, in quiet times, in the hours of retirement and reflection, when the distractions of the world are shut out, the words of wisdom come back into the mind and sink into the heart. How unlike in this respect to the cry of him that ruleth among fools! Even at the moment it is uttered, his cry may fall powerless upon the thoughtless, ignorant, or impatient crowd to whom it is addressed; and this it may do for no other and better reason, than because it does not suit the fancy or the frenzy of the hour. At any rate, and in any case, its influence is but transitory, its power short-lived [Buchanan].
Folly requires the aid of boisterous acclamation to give it the semblance of greatness. Wisdom is content with quiet and retired ways, there to meet her disciples and unfold her treasures. Disdaining the Pharisees device, she sounds no trumpet, but calm as the depths of heaven, speaks to contemplation the everlasting language of truth.
How soon the fame of those who have made the greatest noise and display passes away! It is easily blown up to the bubble reputation, but soon to burst most unprofitably. Time clears away all illusions and lays bare the solidities of truth.
The wise man may speak to an audience fit, though few; but his audience will increase through the ages, and his words receive obedience and recognition.
The mariner who guides his ship upon the trackless ocean with safety and expedition accomplishes this by the aid of principles which were discovered by Grecian geometers ages ago. The words of these quiet thinkers were heard and understood by few, but without them the greatest development of commerce and civilisation would be impossible.
The true rulers of the world, of lasting sovereignty, are those who guide the intellects and souls of men. They have been faithful over a few things, and have thus been made rulers over many cities.
Ecc_9:18. War wounds, but wisdom heals. War overturns, but it is wisdom that builds up and restores. War is the hurricane that sinks the ship; wisdom is the favouring breeze that wafts it to the desired haven. War is the torrent that furrows the earth, and sweeps its soil into the sea; wisdom droppeth softly, like the rain or the gentle dew from heaven, to refresh the thirsty ground and to bless the springing thereof. In a word, war and all its weapons belong to the bloody brood of him who was a murderer from the beginning; wisdom is the attribute and gift of Him who came to bring peace on earth, goodwill to men, and glory to God in the highest [Buchanan].
The continued existence of war in the midst of material and intellectual progress is a proof that the world is yet far from wisdom. The reign of force can never knit humanity into a true brotherhood. The Christian religion, which is the highest style of wisdom, is the only strong power, against which all else contends in vain.
The ambition of one man may plunge nations into deadly warfare. The heresies of one man may divide the Church, weaken her influence, and provoke the rage of an irritating controversy. One slanderous tongue can slay many reputations, and work mischiefs which are but ill-repaired by time.
The ways in which one sinner may destroy much good are as numerous as the forms of evil itself. But there is a bad and even a worse eminence in sin. The greater the power abused, the more terrible and far-reaching the consequences. Hence he who writes a book that unsettles the foundations of faith in the soul of man, or robs him of his immortal hope, propagates a mischief far beyond his own working-day in life, and verily keeps his sad account and reckoning with eternity still open.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 2. Praise of Wisdom and Philosophy, theFinal Word and…
2. Praise of Wisdom and Philosophy, theFinal Word and the Great Conclusion
CHAPTER 9:13-18
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Before he had declared that wisdom is strength. He comes back to this statement and gives an illustration of it. He is in a calmer mood, but what does his meditation amount to? Only to show that this also is vanity.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 under the sun
under the sun
This refers to things that are done on earth. See how you translated this in Ecclesiastes 1:3. AT: "on the earth" (See: Idiom)
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a great king came against it
Here the "king" represents himself and his whole army. AT: "a great king and his army" (See: Synecdoche)
great siege ramps
This refers to dirt ramps the army built up against the city walk so that they could climb up and attack the city.
in the city was found a poor, wise man
This can be stated in active form. AT: "in the city, people found a poor, wise man" or "a poor, wise man lived in the city" (See: Active or Passive and Idiom)
translationWords
king
siege
save
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:13-18 This poor man’s particular wise action was effective.…
9:13-18 This poor man’s particular wise action was effective. Wisdom is better than power, strength, or weapons (see 4:13; 7:9, 19; 10:4), yet the worthy are not always honored, and even the wise are forgotten (see 2:16; 4:16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.