Christian Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 6:8
8What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others?
Ecclesiastes 6:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
- New International Version (NIV)What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
- English Standard Version (ESV)For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living?
- New King James Version (NKJV)For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living?
Context of Ecclesiastes 6:8
6And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place? 7All of a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet the appetite is never satisfied. What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? 9Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 10Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 6Ecclesiastes 6:8 word by word
כִּ֛י מַה־יּוֹתֵ֥ר לֶחָכָ֖ם מִֽן־הַכְּסִ֑יל מַה־לֶּעָנִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ לַהֲלֹ֖ךְ נֶ֥גֶד הַחַיִּֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:8
- Ecclesiastes 2:14The wise person has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.
- Ecclesiastes 5:11When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.
- Psalms 101:2I will pay attention to the way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.
- Psalms 116:9I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
- Proverbs 19:1Better a poor person who lives with integrity than someone who has deceitful lips and is a fool.
- Luke 1:6Both were righteous in God’s sight, living without blame according to all the commands and requirements of the Lord.
- 1 Timothy 6:17Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8For what hath the wise more than the fool? - They must both labor for the same end. Both depend upon the labor of themselves or others for the necessaries of life. Both must eat and drink in order to live; and the rich man can no more eat two meals at a time, than he can comfortably wear two changes of raiment. The necessaries of life are the same to both, and their condition in life is nearly similar; liable to the same diseases, dissolution, and death.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-9Verses 7-9 Connect these verses with Ecclesiastes 6:2-3: “All labor is undertaken with a view to some profit, but as a rule the people who labor are never satisfied. What advantage then has he who labors if (being rich) he is wise, or if being poor he knows how to conduct himself properly; what advantage have such laborers above a fool? (None, so far as they are without contentment, for) a thing present before the eyes is preferable to a future which…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 A little will serve to sustain us comfortably, and a great deal can do no more. The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to give satisfaction. The poor man has comfort as well as the richest, and is under no real disadvantage. We cannot say, Better is the sight of the eyes than the resting of the soul in God; for it is better to live by faith in things to come, than to live by sense, which dwells only upon present…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-9What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool?: They have an advantage if they enjoy and are content with what the Lord has given them.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. For--"However" [Maurer]. The "for" means (in contrast to the insatiability of the miser), For what else is the advantage which the wise man hath above the fool?" What--advantage, that is, superiority, above him who knows not how to walk uprightly hath the poor who knoweth to walk before the living?--that is, to use and enjoy life aright (Ec 5:18, 19), a cheerful, thankful, godly "walk" (Psa 116:9).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 6:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6
- 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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