New Living Translation
Ecclesiastes 2:13
13I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than 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
11But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. 12So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king?). I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. 14For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate. 15Both will die. So I said to myself, “Since I will end up the same as the fool, what’s the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!”
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 even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life.
- Ecclesiastes 9:16So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.
- Proverbs 4:5Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them.
- Proverbs 16:16How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver!
- Malachi 3:18Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- Malachi 4:1The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all.
- Ecclesiastes 11:7Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.
- Psalms 119:105Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
- Proverbs 4:18The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.
- Matthew 6:23But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!
- Luke 11:7And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’
- Ephesians 5:8For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people 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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