Christian Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 2:13
13And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.
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
11When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun. 12Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the king’s successor be like? He will do what has already been done. And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness. 14The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both. 15So I said to myself, “What happens to the fool will also happen to me. Why then have I been overly wise?” And I said to myself that this is also futile.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 2Ecclesiastes 2:13 word by word
וְרָאִ֣יתִי אָ֔נִי שֶׁיֵּ֥שׁ יִתְר֛וֹן לַֽחָכְמָ֖ה מִן־הַסִּכְל֑וּת כִּֽיתְר֥וֹן הָא֖וֹר מִן־הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:13
- Ecclesiastes 7:11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to 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; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.
- Proverbs 16:16Get wisdom — how much better it is than gold! And get understanding — it is preferable to silver.
- Malachi 3:18So you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
- Malachi 4:1“For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches.
- Ecclesiastes 11:7Light is sweet, and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.
- Psalms 119:105Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
- Proverbs 4:18The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- Matthew 6:23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
- Luke 11:7Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t 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
In the dictionaries
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
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