Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.
Parallel Translations
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
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Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 9:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Joshua 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against the children of Israel.
- Joshua 7:11-12 Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them. Yes, they have even taken some of the devoted things, and have also stolen, and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.
- Joshua 7:5 The men of Ai struck about thirty-six men of them. They chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent. The hearts of the people melted, and became like water.
- Ecclesiastes 9:16 Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
- 2 Timothy 2:16-18 But shun empty chatter, for it will go further in ungodliness, and those words will consume like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus: men who have erred concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past, and overthrowing the faith of some.
- 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables.
- 2 Timothy 3:8 Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected.
- Titus 1:10-11 For there are also many unruly men, vain talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake.
- Joshua 22:20 Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”
- 1 Samuel 14:28-29 Then one of the people answered, and said, “Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food today.’ ” So the people were faint. Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. Please look how my eyes have brightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.
- 1 Samuel 14:36-46 Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines by night, and take plunder among them until the morning light, and let’s not leave a man of them.” They said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let’s draw near here to God.” Saul asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But he didn’t answer him that day. Saul said, “Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been today. For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” The people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Show the right.” Jonathan and Saul were chosen, but the people escaped. Saul said, “Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son.” Jonathan was selected. Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done!” Jonathan told him, and said, “I certainly did taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and behold, I must die.” Saul said, “God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.” The people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God today!” So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn’t die. Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.
- 2 Samuel 20:1-2 There happened to be there a wicked fellow, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; and he blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no portion in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, Israel!” So all the men of Israel went up from following David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; but the men of Judah joined with their king, from the Jordan even to Jerusalem.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming; even he whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deception of wickedness for those who are being lost, because they didn’t receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Because of this, God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be judged who didn’t believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
- Hebrews 12:15-16 looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it, lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 9:18 Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war:…
Ecc 9:18 Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
Ver. 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war.] As David found it in his encounter with Goliath, Gideon in his stratagem against the Midianites, and our renowned Drake in dissipating that Invincible Armada, which being three years in preparing with incredible cost, was by his wisdom within a month overthrown and confounded, with the loss of one English ship only, and not a hundred persons. Romani sedendo vincunt. This was the glory of the Romans, that they conquered the world by wisdom, not by weapons.
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“ Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem. ”
Not Achilles, but Ulysses is termed πολιοπορθος, the sacker of cities; {a} Cyneas took mere towns by his policy than Pyrrhus by his prowess.
But one sinner destroyeth much good.] He may be as an Achan in the army, as a Jonah in the ship, a trouble-town, a common mischief, a traitor to the state; especially if he be an eminent man, as Jeroboam, that ringleader of rebellion, and Manasseh, who "made Judah also to sin," {2Ki 21:11} and so brought such evil upon them, that whosoever heard of it, "both his ears tingled." {Ecc 9:12} Great men’s sins do more hurt (1.) By imitation; for Regis ad exemplnm, &c.; ( 2.) By imputation, for plectuntur Achivi; the poor people pay for such men’s faults, as they did for David’s. {2Sa 24:15-17} I shall close up this chapter with that memorable passage of a reverend writer, yet alive: If England’s fears were greater, thy reformation may save it. {Jer 5:1} If our hopes were greater, thy sin and security might undo it. {Ecc 9:18} One sinner destroys much good. I only add, how much more a rabble of rebels, conspiring to provoke God. Sure I am, we have great cause to wish for our country, as Ferus did for the Romish synagogue; I would we had some Moses, said he, to take away the evils, Non enim unum tantum vitulum, sed multos habemus, for we have not only one golden calf, but many among us.
{a} Plutarch.
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 Than weapons of war; than armed power.
Than weapons of war; than armed power.
Sinner; a wicked fool; by which expression and opposition of a sinner to a wise man he gives us a key to understand his meaning in divers places of his books, that by wisdom he means true piety, and by folly wickedness; and withal, showeth that sin, as it is the greatest folly, so it is more pernicious to men than mere folly properly so called.
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Destroyeth much good; by his wicked counsels and courses brings much damage and mischief, both to himself and others.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Wisdom is better than weapons of war,.... And does…
Wisdom is better than weapons of war,.... And does what they cannot do; of which the wisdom of the poor wise man is a full proof, which delivered the city from a potent prince, when weapons of war could not: see Ecc 7:10;
but one sinner destroyeth much good: his own soul by his sins, and the souls of others by his counsels, example, and conversation, which corrupt good manners; so does one sinner in a family, neighbourhood, and town; as one poor wise man does much good, one sinner mars much; one Achan in a camp or army, one bad counsel for in a cabinet, one false teacher in the church, will do a great deal of mischief, as well as one debauchee in a town or city. The Vulgate Latin version is, "who sins in one"; offends or sins in one, as in Jam 2:10; so the Syriac version, "one sin destroys much good", or many good things; and to the same purpose the Arabic version, "he that committeth one sin".
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Next: Ecclesiastes Chapter 10
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war]…
Verse 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war] So proved in the case of Archimedes.
But one sinner] Such as the Roman butcher above mentioned.
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Destroyeth much good] Such as were the life and skill of the Syracusan mathematician. One sinner has often injured the work of God; one stumbling-block has sometimes destroyed a revival of religion. Sin acts like a ferment; whatever comes in contact with it, it assimilates to itself.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Sinner - The word in the original indicates intellectual…
Sinner - The word in the original indicates intellectual as well as moral error.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Things. A woman saved Abela; and Achan almost ruined…
Things. A woman saved Abela; and Achan almost ruined Israel. Want of prudence in a general is often fatal. Virtues are connected, as well as vices. (Calmet) --- For one transgression, many acts of virtue are lost. (St. Jerome)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain one sinner, &c.-- (Jos 7:1, Jos 7:11-12). Though wisdom…
one sinner, &c.-- (Jos 7:1, Jos 7:11-12). Though wisdom excels folly (Ecc 9:16; Ecc 7:19), yet a "little folly (equivalent to sin) can destroy much good," both in himself (Ecc 10:1; Jam 2:10) and in others. "Wisdom" must, from the antithesis to "sinner," mean religion. Thus typically, the "little city" may be applied to the Church (Luk 12:32; Heb 12:22); the great king to Satan (Joh 12:31); the despised poor wise man, Jesus Christ (Isa 53:2-3; Mar 6:3; Co2 8:9; Eph 1:7-8; Col 2:3).
Next: Ecclesiastes Chapter 10
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 18. Wisdom… weapons — The antithesis is continued, Though…
18. Wisdom… weapons — The antithesis is continued, Though wisdom be better. The anecdote given above illustrates this. The “poor wise man” prevaileth over the army and the bulwarks.
But — Better, yet.
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One sinner — One fool. Said the French king of his heir and grandson, Francis I., “This great boy will spoil all.” And so he did; and illustrations of the like are sadly frequent. A fool may mar and baffle the wisest plans of the wise.
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 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war] The…
18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war] The maxim presents another illustration of the irony of history. The excellence of wisdom is acknowledged. Counsel is more than the materiel of war; the statesman more than the general, and yet one man by his guilt or folly, by the perversity which includes both (the Hebrew verb for “sinneth” has this meaning, as in Pro_8:36), may mar what it has taken years to bring to a good issue. The defeat of an army, the most terrible catastrophe, may often be traced to the fact that “some one has blundered,” in carelessness or passion. It is probable enough that, as in Ecc_9:14, the writer had some definite historical fact present to his thoughts which we are unable to identify. The history of Achan, in Jos_7:1-12, presents a sufficient illustration.
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 Wisdom is better than weapons of war. Such is…
Wisdom is better than weapons of war. Such is the moral which Koheleth desires to draw from the little narrative given above. (see vers. 14-16; and Ecc_7:19) Wisdom can do what no material force can effect, and often produces results which all the implements of war could not command. But one sinner destroyeth much good. The happy consequences which the wise man"s counsel might accomplish, or has already accomplished, may be overthrown or rendered useless by the villany or perversity of a bad man. The Vulgate, reading differently, has, Qui in uno peccaverit, multa bona perdet. But this seems to be out of keeping with the context. Adam"s sin infected the whole race of man; Achau"s transgression caused Israel"s defeat; (Jos_7:11, Jos_7:12) Rehoboam"s folly occasioned the great schism. (1Ki_12:16) The wide-reaching effects of one little error are illustrated by the proverbial saying which every one knows, and which runs in Latin thus: "Clavus unus perdit equi soleam, soles equum, equus equitem, eques castra, castro rempublicam.
The destructiveness of one evil life.
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How much of destruction may flow from one single life may be seen if we look at the subject
I NEGATIVELY. We may judge of the magnitude of the evil by considering:
1. How one evil life may hinder the work of God; e.g. Achan, Sanballat, Herod, Nero. Who shall say how much of Christian influence has been arrested by one grossly inconsistent member of a Church, or by one arch-persecutor of the gospel of Christ?
2. How much a man may fail to do by refusing to spend his powers in the service of God. To a man with large means, great resources, brilliant capacities, almost anything is open in the direction of holy usefulness, of widespread and far-descending influence. All this is lost, and in a sense destroyed, by a selfish and guilty withholdment of it all from the service of God and man.
II POSITIVELY. We may estimate the serious and lamentable mischief of an evil life if we think that a godless man may be injuring his neighbors:
1. By weakening or undermining their faith; causing them to lose their hold on Divine truth, and thus sinking into the miseries of doubt or into the darkness and despair of utter unbelief.
2. By undoing the integrity of the upright; leading them into the fatal morass of an immoral life.
3. By cooling, or even killing, the consecration of the zealous; causing them to slacken their speed or even to leave the field of noble service. One man, by his own evil example, by his words of folly and falsity, by his deeds of wrong, may enfeeble many minds, may despoil many hearts, may misguide many souls, may blight and darken many lives. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:18–10:1 one sinner can destroy . . . a…
9:18–10:1 one sinner can destroy . . . a little foolishness spoils: Sin and foolishness can undo a lot of good in a very short time.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.