Ecclesiastes 2:13

Ecclesiastes 2:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
• New International Version (NIV)I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.

Context of Ecclesiastes 2:13

11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun. 12Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished? And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness: 14The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both. 15So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

Ecclesiastes 2:13 word by word

וְרָאִ֣יתִי אָ֔נִי שֶׁיֵּ֥שׁ יִתְר֛וֹן לַֽחָכְמָ֖ה מִן־הַסִּכְל֑וּת כִּֽיתְר֥וֹן הָא֖וֹר מִן־הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃Read the interlinear

• And Iאֲנִי'ănîy · IH589
• sawרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• thatיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• wisdomחׇכְמָהchokmâh · wisdomH2451
• exceedsיִתְרוֹןyithrôn · advantageH3504
• exceedsמִן־min minnîy minnêy · fromH4480
• follyסִכְלוּתsiklûth ώiklûth · follyH5531
• just as lightאוֹר'ôr · lightH216
• darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:13

• Ecclesiastes 7:11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 9:16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
• Proverbs 4:5Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
• Proverbs 16:16How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
• Malachi 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
• Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
• Ecclesiastes 11:7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
• Psalms 119:105Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
• Proverbs 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
• Matthew 6:23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
• Luke 11:7And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Do not bother me. My door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’
• Ephesians 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly - Though in none of these pursuits I found the supreme good, the happiness my soul longed after; yet I could easily perceive that wisdom excelled the others, as far as light excels darkness. And he immediately subjoins the reasons.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 Solomon found that knowledge and prudence were preferable to ignorance and folly, though human wisdom and knowledge will not make a man happy. The most learned of men, who dies a stranger to Christ Jesus, will perish equally with the most ignorant; and what good can commendations on earth do to the body in the grave, or the soul in hell? And the spirits of just men made perfect cannot want them. So that if this were all, we might be led to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-14wisdom exceeds folly: Wisdom is useful because it helps navigate life successfully. However, it cannot prevent death or give life meaning (Ecclesiastes 2:15–16).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1413-14. (Pr 17:24). The worldly "wise" man has good sense in managing his affairs, skill and taste in building and planting, and keeps within safe and respectable bounds in pleasure, while the "fool" is wanting in these respects ("darkness," equivalent to fatal error, blind infatuation), yet one event, death, happens to both (Job 21:26).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:13

• Light
• Pleasure
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Gather
• Laughter
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings