New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 6:8
8So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?
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
6if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die! 7All of man’s labor is for nothing more than to fill his stomach – yet his appetite is never satisfied! So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? 9It is better to be content with what the eyes can see than for one’s heart always to crave more. This continual longing is futile – like chasing the wind. 10Whatever has happened was foreordained, and what happens to a person was also foreknown. It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate because God is more powerful than he is.
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 man can see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that the same fate happens to them both.
- Ecclesiastes 5:11When someone’s prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes?
- Genesis 17:1When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.
- Psalms 101:2I will walk in the way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace.
- Psalms 116:9I will serve the Lord in the land of the living.
- Proverbs 19:1Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his speech and is a fool.
- Luke 1:6They were both righteous in the sight of God, following all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.
- 1 Timothy 6:17Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.
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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