Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 9:15
Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
15. and he by his wisdom delivered the city ] The history of the siege of Abel-beth-Maachah in 2Sa 20:14-20 presents a suggestive parallel, but there the wisdom that delivered the city was that of a woman.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He was soon neglected, and his great service so far from being recompensed according to its merit, that both it and he were quite forgotten; which may be noted as another great vanity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. pooras to the temporaladvantages of true wisdom, though it often saves others. It receiveslittle reward from the world, which admires none save the rich andgreat.
no man remembered (Ge40:23).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now there was found in it a poor wise man,…. Christ, who is man, though not a mere man, but God as well as man; who was so in purpose, covenant, and promise, before his incarnation, since truly and really so; and “poor”, as it was foretold he should be, and who became so for the sake of his church and people, Zec 9:9; yet “wise”, even as man, being filled with wisdom, in which he increased, and gave such evident proofs of; on whom the spirit of wisdom rested, and in whom the treasures of it were hid, Lu 2:40 Col 2:3; he was found here by God his Father, who exalted one chosen out of the people, and made him Head over the church, who is the firstborn among many brethren, Ps 89:19; Or “and”, or “but he found in it” i; that is, Satan, the great king, found him here, contrary to his expectation, and to his great regret;
and he by his wisdom delivered the city; the church, from all enemies; from Satan and all his principalities and powers; from the world, the men and things of it; from sin, and all its sad consequences; from the law, its curse and condemnation; and from the second death, ruin and destruction: and though this deliverance was both by power and by price, yet also by wisdom; for the deliverance and redemption of the church by Christ is the fruit of infinite wisdom; it is a wise scheme to glorify all the divine perfections; to mortify Satan, and save sinners, and yet condemn sin; see Eph 1:7;
yet no man remembered that same poor man: before the deliverance wrought, as Aben Ezra and others; it never once entered into their thoughts that he could ever be their deliverer; they never imagined he had a capacity to advise, direct, or assist, in such service, or bring about such an affair: so Christ, when he appeared in the world, the Jews saw nothing that was promising in him; they could not believe that he was sent to be the Saviour and deliverer of them, and therefore rejected him, Isa 3:2; Or, “after it”, so the Vulgate Latin version, “no man hereafter remembered”, c. took no notice of him after he had wrought this deliverances bestowed no honour upon him, nor returned him thanks for what he had done; but he continued to live and die in obscurity and meanness: thus Christ, though he ought to be remembered and spoken well of, and the glory of salvation should be ascribed unto him, and thanks should be given him for it; yet there are none comparatively, or; but a few, who, like the Samaritan, glorify him on account of it. But if any choose to understand these words of political wisdom, and the use of it, by which sometimes a mean and obscure person does more good than others can by their power and strength, though he meets with no reward for it, I am not averse to it; and which agrees with what follows.
i “et invenit in ea”, Mercerus, Drusius, Amama; “sed invenit in ea”, Rambachius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
15. Poor wise man, etc. Events like this are not very rare. Cooper’s “Naval History of the United States” relates, that the sailing-master of the flagship in the battle of Plattsburg, (Lake Champlain,) quietly arranged a cable before the action, by which alone it was afterward possible to bring the ship about, so that its remaining broadside could be brought to bear. The opening of this broadside turned the battle both on lake and shore. Yet the modest and skilful hero though thanked by his commodore received no public reward or recognition for nearly thirty years, when his widow was granted an ample pension. “Republics,” it is said, “are ungrateful;” rather, often unmindful.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 9:15. There was found in it a poor wise man An experienced wise man; and so at the end of the verse. II. We have the second head in Ecc 9:13-15. Our expectations are not less liable to disappointment with respect to those advantages which are considered as infallible consequences of certain actions, without being directly intended by the person concerned, who may be supposed to have a nobler motive in his eye. This our author proves by a single instance, propounded in the form of a parable. A wise experienced man found means to deliver his country from impending ruin. Who would not imagine that immortal praise would have been this man’s reward? Yet the contrary happened; and the danger was no sooner over than the deliverer was forgotten. This serves for a transition to the author’s fourth and last proof, which is taken from the little regard that is generally paid to wisdom, notwithstanding its acknowledged excellency. He alleges three instances of that ill-judged disregard. See on the following verses.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ecc 9:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Ver. 15. Now there was found in it a poor wise man. ] Such as was Anaximenes at Lampsacum, a and Archimedes at Syracuse, of whose wisdom Plutarch testifieth, that it was above the ordinary possibility of a man, it was divine. b And of whose poverty Silius assures us, that he was
“ Nadus opum, sed cui coelum terraeque paterent. ”
By his warlike devices and engines he so defended his city against Marcellus, the Roman general, that the soldiers called him Briareus and Centimanus, a giant invincible; there was no taking of the town, as Livy relates it. The city of Abel was delivered by a wise woman that was in it. 2Sa 20:16-22 The city of Coecinum in the isle of Lemnos, by Marulla, a maiden of that city. c Hippo could not be taken while Augustine was in it; nor Heidelberg, while Pareus lived. Elisha preserved Samaria from the Syrians; and the prophet Isaiah, Jerusalem from the Assyrians. “They shall not shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it,” saith the Lord. Isa 37:33 Jeremiah had preserved it longer, but that his counsel was slighted. Indeed he was a physician to a dying state,
“ Tunc etenim docta plus valet arte malum. ”
Yet no man remembered that same poor man.
a Val. Max.
b O , , . – Plut., lib: xiv.
c Turkish History, 413.
d Sed restituta serenitate abeuntes vellicarent.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
there was found = [some one] was found.
poor = unfortunate. Hebrew. misken. See note on Pro 6:11.
poor wise. Some codices, with three early printed editions, Aramaean, Septuagint, and Vulgate, read “poor but wise”.
man. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
yet: Gen 40:23, Est 6:2, Est 6:3
Reciprocal: Exo 1:8 – a new king Jdg 8:35 – showed 1Sa 18:23 – a poor man 1Sa 23:12 – They will 1Ki 3:9 – to judge 1Ch 19:2 – I will show Pro 2:11 – General Pro 3:13 – is the Pro 11:11 – the blessing Pro 19:7 – the brethren Pro 28:2 – but Pro 28:11 – the poor Ecc 4:13 – is a poor Ecc 7:11 – good with an inheritance Ecc 7:19 – General Ecc 10:10 – wisdom 1Co 12:22 – General Jam 2:6 – ye