English Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 6:8
8For 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?
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?
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?
Context of Ecclesiastes 6:8
6Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place? 7All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. 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? 9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. 10Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with 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 his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
- Ecclesiastes 5:11When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,
- Psalms 101:2I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house;
- Psalms 116:9I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
- Proverbs 19:1Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.
- Luke 1:6And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
- 1 Timothy 6:17As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries