New International Version
Ecclesiastes 9:13
13I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:
Ecclesiastes 9:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
- English Standard Version (ESV)I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.
- New King James Version (NKJV)This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me:
- New Living Translation (NLT)Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.
Context of Ecclesiastes 9:13
11I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 12Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them. I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: 14There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 9Ecclesiastes 9:13 word by word
גַּם־זֹ֛ה רָאִ֥יתִי חָכְמָ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ וּגְדוֹלָ֥ה הִ֖יא אֵלָֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 9:13
- Ecclesiastes 6:1I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind:
- Ecclesiastes 7:15In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: the righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
- Ecclesiastes 8:16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night—
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 9:13
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Or, Also this have I seen - wisdom under the sun, and great it seemed to me. From this verse to the end of Ecclesiastes 10, the writer inculcates, in a series of proverbs, wisdom in contrast to folly, as the best remedy in the present life to the evil of vanity.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-18Verses 13-18 A man may, by his wisdom, bring to pass that which he could never do by his strength. If God be for us, who can be against us, or stand before us? Solomon observes the power of wisdom, though it may labour under outward disadvantages. How forcible are right words! But wise and good men must often content themselves with the satisfaction of having done good, or, at least, endeavoured to do it, when they cannot do the good they would, nor have…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-18This poor man's wise action was effective. Wisdom is better than power, strength, or weapons (see Ecclesiastes 4:13; 7:9, 19; 10:4). However, deserving people are not always honored, and even wise individuals are sometimes forgotten (see Ecclesiastes 2:16; 4:16).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Rather, "I have seen wisdom of this kind also," that is, exhibited in the way which is described in what follows [Maurer].Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 9:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 9
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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