Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 2:13
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
13. I saw that wisdom excelleth folly ] Better, as keeping up, in the English as in the Hebrew, the characteristic word of the book, There is profit in wisdom more than in folly, and so in the second clause. Something then had been gained by the experience. In language like that of the Stoics he sings the praises of wisdom. Even the wisdom that brings sorrow (ch. Ecc 1:13) is better than the mirth of fools. A man is conscious of being more truly man when he looks before and after, and knows how to observe. Light is, after all, better than darkness, even if it only shews us that we are treading the path that leads to nothingness. The human heart obeys its instincts when it cries out with Aias,
.
“And if our fate be death, give light, and let us die.”
Hom. Il. xvii. 647.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 13. Then 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Then I saw; or, yet I saw; for this is added to prevent an Objection or mistake.
Wisdom excelleth folly; although wisdom is not sufficient to make men truly and perfectly happy, yet it is of a far greater use and excellency than vain pleasures, or any other follies.
As far as light excelleth darkness, i.e. vastly and unspeakably. Light is very pleasant and comfortable, and withal of great necessity and singular use to discover the differences of persons and things, to prevent mistakes and dangers, and to direct all a mans paths in the right way; whereas darkness is in itself doleful, and leads men into innumerable confusions, and errors, and miseries.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13, 14. (Pr17:24). The worldly “wise” man has good sense inmanaging his affairs, skill and taste in building andplanting, and keeps within safe and respectable boundsin pleasure, while the “fool” is wanting in these respects(“darkness,” equivalent to fatal error, blindinfatuation), yet one event, death, happens to both (Job21:26).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then I sat that wisdom excelleth folly,…. However, this upon a review of things he could not but own, that natural wisdom and knowledge, though there was no true happiness and satisfaction in them, yet they greatly exceeded folly and madness;
as far as light excelleth darkness; as the light of the day the darkness of the night; the one is pleasant and delightful, the other very uncomfortable; the one useful to direct in walking, the other very unsafe to walk in: light sometimes signifies joy and prosperity, and darkness adversity; the one is used to express the light of grace, and the other the darkness of sin and ignorance; now as the natural light exceeds darkness, and prosperity exceeds adversity and calamities, and a state of grace exceeds a state of sin and wickedness, so wisdom exceeds folly.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“And I saw that wisdom has the advantage over folly, as light has the advantage over darkness. The wise man has eyes in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness.” In the sacred Scriptures, “light” is generally the symbol of grace, Psa 43:3, but also the contrast of an intellectually and morally darkened state, Isa 51:4. To know a thing is equivalent to having light on it, and seeing it in its true light (Psa 36:10); wisdom is thus compared to light; folly is once, Job 38:19, directly called “darkness.” Thus wisdom stands so much higher than folly, as light stands above darkness. , which hitherto denoted actual result, enduring gain, signifies here preference; along with
(Note: Thus written, according to J and other authorities.)
there is also found the form
(Note: Thus Ven. 1515, 1521; vid., Comm. under Gen 27:28-29; Psa 45:10.)
( vid., Pro 30:17). The fool walks in darkness: he is blind although he has eyes (Isa 43:8), and thus has as good as none, – he wants the spiritual eye of understanding (Job 10:3); the wise man, on the other hand, his eyes are in his head, or, as we also say: he has eyes in his head, – eyes truly seeing, looking at and examining persons and things. That is the one side of the relation of wisdom to folly as put to the test.
The other side of the relation is the sameness of the result in which the elevation of wisdom above folly terminates.
“And I myself perceived that one experience happeneth to them all. And I said in my heart, As it will happen to the fool, it will happen also to me; and why have I then been specially wise? Thus I spake then in my heart, that this also is vain.” Zckler gives to an adversative sense; but this gam (= , similiter) stands always at the beginning of the clause, Ewald, 354a. Gam – ani corresponds to the Lat. ego idem , which gives two predicates to one subject; while et ipse predicates the same of the one of two subjects as it does of the other (Zumpt, 697). The second gam – ani serves for the giving of prominence to the object, and here precedes, after the manner of a substantival clause (cf. Isa 45:12; Eze 33:17; 2Ch 28:10), as at Gen 24:27; cf. Gesen. 121. 3. Miqreh (from , to happen, to befall) is quiquid alicui accidit (in the later philosoph. terminol. accidens; Venet. ); but here, as the connection shows, that which finally puts an end to life, the final event of death. By the word the author expresses what he had observed on reflection; by … , what he said inwardly to himself regarding it; and by , what sentence he passed thereon with himself. Lammah asks for the design, as maddu’a for the reason. is either understood temporally: then when it is finally not better with me than with the fool (Hitz. from the standpoint of the dying hour), or logically: if yet one and the same event happeneth to the wise man and to the fool (Eslt.); in the consciousness of the author both are taken together.The of the conclusion refers, not, as at Ecc 1:17, to the endeavouring after and the possession of wisdom, but to this final result making no difference between wise men and fools. This fate, happening to all alike, is , a vanity rendering all vain, a nullity levelling down all to nothing, something full of contradictions, irrational. Paul also (Rom 8:20) speaks of this destruction, which at last comes upon all, as a .
The author now assigns the reason for this discouraging result.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(13) Wisdom surely has an advantage over folly, yet how full of vanity is that advantage. Let the wise man have done his best, soon death comes; the wise man is forgotten, and all he has gained by his labour passes, without labour, into the hands of one who may be no inheritor of his wisdom.
Excelleth.There is profit in wisdom more than in folly. The same word profit is used as in Ecc. 5:11. (See Note on Ecc. 1:3.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Wisdom excelleth folly The verdict follows the comparison. While culture and study cannot bring abiding good, or freedom from sorrow, yet they yield a noble and delightful joy as compared with the indulgences of passions which we share with the brutes.
Light excelleth darkness Wisdom is here compared to the genial light of the morning, and folly to the heavy night that hangs dark and blinding upon one’s way and upon one’s eyes. Of course, the “light excelleth.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 830
THE EXCELLENCY OF WISDOM
Ecc 2:13. Then I saw, that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
THE more exact is our scrutiny into the things of this world, the more decided will be our judgment respecting them. If persons ever think highly of them, it is because they have never set down seriously to examine their true character, or laboured to form a right estimate respecting them. Solomon possessed means of ascertaining their real value beyond any other person that ever existed: for, possessing wisdom above any other of the sons of men, he had a greater capacity to extract all the sweetness that was in them; and, being a monarch, he could command all things through the whole range of nature, to present to him their tribute of gratification according to their respective abilities. But, after a minute examination of every thing, he was constrained to give this, at last, as the result of his experience: Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
Now this, I conceive, refers in part to human wisdom, as occupied in intellectual pursuits. For it is certain, that amongst objects that relate only to this present life, there is nothing to be compared with this. Intellect is that which distinguishes man from the brute creation; and the enlargement of it with arts and sciences is that which elevates man above his fellows. The cultivation of it is more suited to the dignity of man than the gratification of his sensual appetites: in all of which the beasts have as large a capacity of enjoyment as he. The pleasures arising from it are also less apt to cloy: and will endure, when a taste for other enjoyments is passed away. It will gratify, also, when it is not the object of immediate pursuit; because it will supply in reflection much of what it conferred in the actual acquisition. It is also of great use, and qualifies a man for conferring extensive benefits on the world; at the same time that it opens to him a thousand channels of pleasure which are utterly unknown to the unfurnished mind. A person habituated only to bodily exertion has no conception what a fund of satisfaction the exercises of the mind supply, or what delight attaches to the investigation of science and the discovery of truth. Corporeal indulgences, indeed, strike more strongly upon the senses; and therefore, to a carnal mind, seem to furnish a greater measure of delight. But the more eagerly they are sought, the less pleasure they afford; and they bring with them, for the most part, many painful consequences: so that, in comparison of intellectual pursuits, they deserve the name of folly; whilst the prosecution of the other may properly be called wisdom, Yet it must be confessed, that there is much truth in that observation of Solomon, In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow [Note: Ecc 1:18.]. For much study is undoubtedly a weariness to the flesh [Note: Ecc 12:12.]. and it is often followed by painful disappointment, I conceive, therefore, that we are by no means to limit the import of our text to human wisdom; but must extend it to that which is divine: in reference to which we may say, without any limitation or exception, It excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
Of this therefore, even of spiritual wisdom, I will now proceed to speak; and its transcendent excellence I will point out in reference to,
I.
Its own proper character
Wisdom is another word for piety
[Piety in the Scriptures is frequently called by this name. Job says, The fear of the Lord that is wisdom [Note: Job 28:28.]. And Moses prays, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom [Note: Psa 90:12.].
But, not to rest in a mere general definition of the term, I shall consider it as embracing these two points. The receiving of the Gospel, as sinners; and the adorning of it, as saints.
The very first part of wisdom is to receive the Gospel of salvation into our hearts. We all need it; nor can any human being be saved without it; and God offers to us all the blessings of it, freely, without money and without price. Were we under a sentence of death from a human tribunal, and were offered mercy by the Prince, it would be accounted wisdom to accept the offer, and folly to reject it. How much more is it our wisdom to accept a deliverance from eternal death, together with all the glory and felicity of heaven! This must commend itself to every man who reflects but for a moment: and to despise these proffered benefits must, of necessity, be regarded as folly, bordering upon madness
The next part of wisdom must be, to adorn that Gospel by a holy life and conversation; since it cannot otherwise be ultimately of any avail for our acceptance with God. The very intent of the Gospel is to transform man into the Divine image, and thereby to prepare him for the enjoyment of his God; and if this be not attained, heaven itself would be no place of happiness to him. Indeed, if a man profess to embrace the Gospel, and yet continue to walk unworthy of it, he dishonours God far more than he could do whilst he made no such profession: for he tramples under foot the Son of God, and counts the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and does despite unto the Spirit of Grace [Note: Heb 10:29.]; yea, he crucifies the Son of God afresh, and puts him to an open shame [Note: Heb 6:6.]. I think, therefore, that the pursuit of holiness in all its branches, with an uniform endeavour to glorify our God, must commend itself to every considerate mind, as true wisdom.]
And this far excelleth folly
[I will not go into particulars to characterize folly: it shall suffice to take the most lenient view of it that can be imagined: I will comprehend under it no positive vice, nothing that can render it odious in the eyes of men: I will take it only in a negative view, as importing a neglect of the two foregoing dictates of sound wisdom. And now I will ask, Who does not see the superiority of wisdom; and that it excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness? Darkness hath nothing whatever to commend it: it is utterly destitute of every good quality: whereas light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun [Note: Ecc 11:7.]. And precisely thus does piety approve itself to every beholder j whilst a neglect of God presents nothing but gloom, the end of which no human imagination can reach.]
Let us view wisdom next,
II.
In its influence on this present life
There is not a moment of our lives over which it does not cast a benign influence
[In bringing us to the foot of the Cross, it is the means of effecting our reconciliation with, God, and of filling the soul with peace and joy In stirring us up to mortify our corruptions, it keeps us from innumerable snares to which others are exposed, and from troubles in which others are involved. This seems to have been particularly in Solomons mind, when he penned the words of my text;. for he adds immediately, The wise mans eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness [Note: ver. 14.]. It conduces also most essentially to the benefit of all around us. It tends to check vice and wickedness in the world, and to promote virtue in every possible way. It calls forth all the acts and offices of love, both in the professor himself, and in all who come within the sphere of its influence. It greatly honours God too, and tends to the advancement of his kingdom upon earth. There is no end to the benefits of true wisdom: for, so far as it prevails and operates, it repairs the ruins of the Fall; and changes this wretched, miserable world into a very Paradise.]
In this respect, how widely different is folly!
[See the world as it is, and then you will see what folly has done. Enter into the bosoms of men, and see how full they are of all hateful tempers and dispositions, and how utterly destitute of every thing like solid peace. See what jarrings it has introduced into society, insomuch that there is scarcely to be found a single family which is not more or less torn with disputes and disagreements. See what evils it diffuses on every side; and then say in what light it appears as compared with wisdom. I boldly ask, Does not wisdom excel it as far as light excelleth darkness? Darkness is suited to nothing but the deeds of darkness, and the sanguinary excursions of beasts of prey: whereas light administers to the welfare of all, and enables every member of society to execute his functions for the good of the whole: so that in this respect, also, the comparison is fitly made.]
But let us trace wisdom yet further,
III.
In its effects upon the eternal world
[It is here that the great excellence of wisdom will be chiefly found. If there were no future state, folly might, with some semblance of truth, compete with wisdom, because its gratifications are so strong to the organs of sense. But, when we view the aspect of wisdom upon eternity, and reflect that every one of its dictates has a direct tendency to fit the soul for heaven and to augment its eternal bliss, whilst the operations of folly have a directly opposite bearing, all competition between them vanishes; since heaven and hell might as well bear a comparison as they. In truth, the light of heaven and its glory afford a just illustration of the one; whilst the blackness of darkness in the regions of hell gives but too just a portrait of the other. The one brings us to the divine image; the other reduces us to the likeness of beasts and devils: the one ensures to us the everlasting fruition of our God; the other entails upon us his everlasting displeasure. In requiring you, therefore, to receive the declaration of my text, that Wisdom excelleth folly as far as light excelleth darkness, I do nothing but what every conscience must assent to, and every judgment approve.]
Permit me, then, in conclusion to ask,
1.
What is the judgment you have already formed?
[I know that in theory you will all accede to this statement. But what has been your practical judgment? If we look at your lives, what will they attest to have been your views of this subject? Has wisdom there shone, and folly been put to shame? Have you really been living with a view to the eternal world, embracing the Gospel thankfully us sinners, and adorning it as saints. I ask not what you have said with your lips, but what you have said in your lives. It is not by your professions, but by your practice, that God will judge you; and therefore it is by that standard that you must judge yourselves ]
2.
What is the conduct you intend hereafter to pursue?
[The world, I acknowledge, gives its voice in direct opposition to the foregoing statement. It represents religion as folly, and the prosecution of carnal enjoyments as wisdom. But its calling good evil, and evil good, will not change their respective natures: nor, if the whole world should unite in putting darkness for light, or light for darkness, will either of them lose its own qualities, and assume those of the other. Sweet will be sweet, and bitter bitter, whether men will believe it or not [Note: Isa 5:20.]. Will you then go contrary to the convictions of your own minds, in compliment to an ungodly world? Or will you, for fear of offending them, sacrifice the interests of your immortal souls? I call upon you to seek wisdom, which is more to be chosen than fine gold [Note: Pro 16:16.]. Let your whole life declare its value, and be a standing testimony against the folly of the ungodly. So shall you have in this world a sweet experience of my text, and enjoy an ample confirmation of it in the world above.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
Ver. 13. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, ] i.e., Philosophy and human wisdom, though it cannot perfect the mind, nor make a man happy, yet it is as far beyond sensuality and brutishness as light is beyond darkness. Those that seek for the philosopher’s stone, though they miss their end, yet they find many excellent things by the way. So philosophers, politicians, moralists, though they missed the “pearl of price,” yet they sought out other “goodly pearls” (with that wise merchant, Mat 13:45 ), for the which they have their just praise and profit:
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I saw: Ecc 7:11, Ecc 7:12, Ecc 9:16, Pro 4:5-7, Pro 16:16, Mal 3:18, Mal 4:1, Mal 4:2
that wisdom excelleth folly: Heb. that there is an excellency in wisdom more than in folly, etc
light: Ecc 11:7, Psa 119:105, Psa 119:130, Pro 4:18, Pro 4:19, Mat 6:23, Luk 11:34, Luk 11:35, Eph 5:8
Reciprocal: Gen 1:4 – that Ecc 8:1 – as the Jer 9:23 – wise Dan 6:3 – an
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Ecc 2:13-14. I saw that wisdom I allowed thus much. Although wisdom is not sufficient to make men happy, yet it is of far greater use than vain pleasures, or any other follies. The wise mans eyes are in his head In their proper place. He hath the use of his eyes and reason, and foresees, and so avoids, many dangers and mischiefs. But the fool walketh in darkness Manages his affairs ignorantly, rashly, and foolishly, whereby he shows that his eyes are not in his head, or are not used aright. And, or yet, I myself perceived also, &c. That, notwithstanding this excellence of wisdom above folly, at last they both come to one end. Both are subject to the same calamities, and to death itself, which takes away all difference between them.