Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 9:14
[There was] a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
14. there was a little city ] The city has been identified by one commentator (Hitzig) with Dora, which was besieged unsuccessfully by Antiochus the Great in b.c. 218 (Polyb. 9:66). Josephus describes it, in his narrative of its siege by Antiochus Sidetes ( Ant. xiii. 7, 2), as “a city hard to be taken,” but we know nothing of any special incidents corresponding to the allusion in this passage. The term “ great king” fits in with the hypothesis, as also does the fact that the siege was raised, but that is all. The spiritualising interpretations which have found favour with Jewish and Christian commentators, in which the history represents something like the attack of Satan on the town of Mansoul (as in Bunyan’s Holy War), must be rejected as altogether arbitrary and fantastic.
and built great bulwarks against it ] The “bulwarks,” as in the Old Testament generally, are the out-works of the besiegers, the banks or mounds from which missiles were thrown into the city (comp. Deu 20:20; 2Sa 20:15; 2Ch 26:15).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A parable probably without foundation in fact. Critics who ascribe this book to a late age offer no better suggestion than that the little city may be Athens delivered 480 b.c. from the host of Xerxes through the wisdom of Themistocles, or Dora besieged 218 b.c. by Antiochus the Great.
Ecc 9:16-17 are comments on the two facts – the deliverance of the city and its forgetfulness of him who delivered it – stated in Ecc 9:15.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Ecc 9:14-18
There was a little city, and few men within it.
The little city and the poor wise man
The little city, as first introduced to our notice, is in sore straits. The legion of the foe seem innumerable, while the garrison is reduced to a mere handful. They are fast being brought to extremities, and in a few short hours the unfortunate little city will be, in all human probability, subjected to all the horrors of capture by storm, and will be ultimately razed to the ground. At first sight it may seem rather paradoxical to compare this great world of ours, with its almost innumerable inhabitants, its vast area, its enormous resources, to the little city with few men within it. But do we not, comparatively speaking, take too exalted a view of this little world? For relatively little it is, after all–but an insignificant fraction of Gods great universe. But further, inasmuch as the city spoken of here is represented as being ultimately delivered from its peril, we are hardly justified in applying the figure to humanity at large, for whom indeed deliverance has been provided, but has not by it been accepted. The little city joyfully accepting the benefit of deliverance is a much fitter type of the spiritual Church of Christ, viewed in the foreknowledge of God as a complete whole, redeemed and delivered by the wisdom and love of the poor wise man who has cast in his lot with her: and this is indeed a little city, and few men within her. So that the parallelism thus limited is by no means strained or unintelligible. Now, we know nothing of the circumstances to which the little city owed its danger–it may or may not have been its own fault; but we do know the cause of the peril in which the human family has been involved, and that the blame rests entirely with ourselves. Man has rebelled against the sovereign will of God; the defiant cry of humanity through the long dark ages has still been, We will not have this Man to reign over us. The result of all has been that we have forced God into the position of a foe, although He is in His heart our best and truest friend. God would be false to His own position in the universe were He to permit rebellion against His authority: He would be practically abdicating His throne, and this He will never do. Do you know what it is to have reached the point of self-despair? have you found yourself surrounded by the mighty bulwarks? have you felt what it is to have no escape? Not until then, believe me, will you be disposed to value the deliverance procured by the poor wise man. To him we will now turn our attention. He was but a poor man; but he had a patriots heart and a wise mans head; and, moved doubtless by love for his compatriots, by some extraordinary and unlooked-for effort of wisdom, he delivered the city. How did he do it? Here again we have no information, but it is suggestive to notice that an incident very similar to the one described here actually took place in the time of Solomons father, and must in all probability have made so deep an impression on his own mind that it is scarcely possible that his mind did not recur to it as he wrote these words, though in this case the humble deliverer was a woman, not a man (2Sa 20:15). The guilt of one man here had involved the whole town in peril, because his guilt was imputed to them; but at the suggestion of the wise woman, the guilt was laid on the head of one, himself the guilty party, and one man died for the people, and the whole city perished not. But our Wise Man, Himself the Innocent, offered Himself, with a wisdom which was the child of love, that the guilt of our city might first be imputed to Him the Innocent, and that further His innocence might be imputed to our city, so that by His own voluntary self-sacrifice one man might die for the city, and the city itself might be safe. The wise woman saved the city at the cost of anothers life; but our poor Wise Man has saved His Church at the cost of His own; and in the moment of our despair we see the hostile bulwark withdrawn, the engines of war removed. We too are saved by the interposition of One who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He too was found in the city with no outward distinction of rank or title. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Born in a remote province, in an obscure town, brought up in retirement as a peasants son, what was He to the Caesars and Herods of His day? But now I hasten on to the sequel, for I am speaking to the delivered ones to-day. What became of the poor wise man? Did they make him king or governor? Did he continue to be the most prominent figure in the little commonwealth which he had saved? Nay, but he disappears again into his old obscurity, he retires to the back street–to his cellar or his garret. No man remembered that same poor man. Ah, blood-bought souls, ye ransomed from ruin by the death of the Deliverer, is this true of any of us? Having been delivered from impending ruin by the Christ, have we learned to forget the Deliverer, and to live very much as if we had delivered ourselves? (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)
The poor wise man
A very remarkable case this is indeed. Here is a little city, with few inhabitants, in a weak defenceless condition, and a powerful army at the gates; which is rescued out of the hands of its enemies, and snatched from the jaws of destruction just opened to devour it: war and slavery are driven far away, and peace and liberty at once restored. And all this is ejected by one poor wise man. What would the behaviour of the people be in such a case? Would not their hearts overflow with gratitude toward their deliverer? Would they not render to him all their service who had rendered to them all his; and vie with each other who should do him most honour? Nothing less I they did not so much as thank him. Nay, after the thing was over, he did not even enter into their thoughts–No man remembered that same poor man. This is a very affecting story, considered only in itself: but if we can find an interest in it, and make the case our own, it will be much more so. Let us ask, then, what is to be understood by the city, the great king that besieged it, and the poor wise man that delivered it? The first thing we meet with is a little city with few men in it. Is not this a description which suits well with the Church, or society of believers? (Mat 5:14; Heb 11:10; Psa 87:3). And few and weak indeed we are, in comparison of those that besiege and encompass us round about to destroy us. Who these are, we are next to consider. There came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. That the Christian state, of which this besieged city is a picture, is a state of warfare is known and acknowledged, when it is called the Church militant; and who it is that attacks it we all declare at our baptism, when we promise to fight manfully against sin, the world, and the devil. Sin and the world are but two instruments in this war: it is the devil who uses them; and, therefore, he is the great king that besieges this city and builds bulwarks against it. The bulwarks are raised; the city is ready to fall; and the enemy is about to enter: when lo, there is found in the city a poor wise man; and who is he? If we are the city, he that saves the city must be he that saves us; even our Lord Jesus Christ; than whom none ever was poorer or wiser: He was made poor for our sakes; and in Him were all the treasures of wisdom. This is He who by His wisdom delivers the city; who places Himself in the breach, as Moses did. At the sight of Him the infernal host was in an uproar; and for a time they seemed to overwhelm Him; they shouted for victory, and were hasting forward to the prey: the enemy of Israel, the spiritual Pharaoh, said, I will pursue, I will overtake, etc. And here, except the Lord had kept the city, the watchman had waked but in vain. Had he been an earthly conqueror, the day had been lost. For, to the everlasting confusion of His enemies, He who lay down in his grave the poor wise man, the despised and afflicted Galilean, arose from the dead the Lord mighty in battle; and of the subject of death became the King of Glory. And now, would you think it possible that after all this no man should remember that same poor man? that they should entirely forget him? that they should all forget him? Who at the hearing of this monstrous act of ingratitude is not filled with indignation? Yet we have done all this: we have had this mighty deliverance vouchsafed to us–and we have forgotten it! We have forgotten Him, who so remembered us that He forgot Himself, and made no account of all those sorrows and sufferings, from His birth in the manger to His death upon the cross, which He underwent for us men and our salvation. The first thing we ought; to remember and confess is this, That we got not the land in possession by our own sword, etc. You have now seen how well this parable of Solomon bears an application to the salvation of us citizens of the Church by Jesus Christ; and how it agrees with the same in every particular. There is another ease of the kind, in which the event was quite contrary; and the case of the one city should never be thought of without the other. You have seen the example of a city saved by a poor wise man. I can tell you of another city lost for want of him. The city of Jerusalem fell into the condition of our city in the parable. A great king came against it and encompassed it with armies, and built great bulwarks against it, and prevailed so as to overthrow it to its very foundations, and scatter all its inhabitants. There was found in it none to save; no poor wise man to prevent its destruction. There had been one; but they had cast him out, and refused to he saved by him: for the sake of his poverty they had despised his wisdom; so their destruction was inevitable. And so will it be of all those who east out their Saviour: yea, the time will come when the whole world shall perish for want of Him. (W. Jones, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. There was a little city, and few men within it] Here is another proof of the vanity of sublunary things; the ingratitude of men, and the little compensation that genuine merit receives. The little history mentioned here may have either been a fact, or intended as an instructive fable. A little city, with few to defend it, being besieged by a great king and a powerful army, was delivered by the cunning and address on a poor wise man; and afterwards his townsmen forgot their obligation to him.
Those who spiritualize this passage, making the little city the CHURCH, the few men the APOSTLES, the great king the DEVIL, and the poor wise man JESUS CHRIST, abuse the text.
But the Targum is not less whimsical: “The little city is the human body; few men in it, few good affections to work righteousness; the great king, evil concupiscence, which, like a strong and powerful king, enters into the body to oppress it, and besieges the heart so as to cause it to err; built great bulwarks against it – evil concupiscence builds his throne in it wheresoever he wills, and causes it to decline from the ways that are right before God; that it may be taken in the greatest nets of hell, that he may burn it seven times, because of its sins. But there is found in it a poor wise man – a good, wise, and holy affection, which prevails over the evil principle, and snatches the body from the judgment of hell, by the strength of its wisdom. Yet, after this deliverance, the man did not remember what the good principle had done for him; but said in his heart, I am innocent,” c.
What a wonderful text has this been in the hands of many a modern Targumist and with what force have the Keachonians preached Christ crucified from it!
Such a passage as this receives a fine illustration from the case of Archimedes saving the city of Syracuse from all the Roman forces besieging it by sea ana land. He destroyed their ships by his burning-glasses, lifted up their galleys out of the water by his machines, dashing some to pieces, and sinking others. One man’s wisdom here prevailed for a long time against the most powerful exertions of a mighty nation. In this case, wisdom far exceeded strength. But was not Syracuse taken, notwithstanding the exertions of this poor wise man? No. But it was betrayed by the baseness of Mericus, a Spaniard, one of the Syracusan generals. He delivered the whole district he commanded into the hands of Marcellus, the Roman consul, Archimedes having defeated every attempt made by the Romans, either by sea or land: yet he commanded no company of men, made no sorties, but confounded and destroyed them by his machines. This happened about 208 years before Christ, and nearly about the time in which those who do not consider Solomon as the author suppose this book to have been written. This wise man was not remembered; he was slain by a Roman soldier while deeply engaged in demonstrating a new problem, in order to his farther operations against the enemies of his country. See Plutarch, and the historians of this Syracusan war.
When Alexander the Great was about to destroy the city Lampsacus, his old master Anaximenes came out to meet him. Alexander, suspecting his design, that he would intercede for the city, being determined to destroy it, swore that he would not grant him any thing he should ask. Then said Anaximenes, “I desire that you will destroy this city.” Alexander respected his oath, and the city was spared. Thus, says Valerius Maximus, the narrator, (lib. vii. c. iii., No. 4. Extern.,) by this sudden turn of sagacity, this ancient and noble city was preserved from the destruction by which it was threatened. “Haec velocitas sagacitatis oppidum vetusta nobilitate inclytum exitio, cui destinatum erat, subtraxit.”
A stratagem of Jaddua, the high priest, was the means of preserving Jerusalem from being destroyed by Alexander, who, incensed because they had assisted the inhabitants of Gaza when he besieged it, as soon as he had reduced it, marched against Jerusalem, with the determination to raze it to the ground; but Jaddua and his priests in their sacerdotal robes, meeting him on the way, he was so struck with their appearance that he not only prostrated himself before the high priest, and spared the city, but also granted it some remarkable privileges. But the case of Archimedes and Syracuse is the most striking and appropriate in all its parts. That of Anaximenes and Lampsacus is also highly illustrative of the maxim of the wise man: “Wisdom is better than strength.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It matters not whether this was a real history, or only a parable to represent the common practices of men in such cases.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14, 15. (2Sa20:16-22).
bulwarksmilitary worksof besiegers.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[There was] a little city, and few men within it,…. Which some take to be a piece of history, a real matter of fact; that as the city of Abel, when besieged by Joab, was delivered by the counsel of a wise woman, 2Sa 20:15; so there was a city, which Solomon had knowledge of, which was delivered from the siege of a powerful king, by the wise counsel of a poor wise man: though others think it is only a fiction, fable, or parable; the moral of which is, that political wisdom, even in a poor mean person, is sometimes very useful and serviceable, though it does not meet with its proper merit. Many of the Jewish writers understand the whole allegorically and figuratively; so the Targum, by “the little city”, understands the body of man; by “few men in it”, the little righteousness there is in the heart of man; though, according to the Midrash, Jarchi, and Alshech, they are the members of the body; by “the great king”, the evil imagination, or corruption of nature, which is great to oppress, and besieges the heart to cause it to err; and by “the poor wise man”, the good imagination or affection, which prevails over the other, and subdues it, and delivers the body from hell, and yet not remembered; and so the Midrash, and the ancient Jews in Aben Ezra, though he himself understands it according to its literal sense. Some Christian interpreters explain it to better purpose, concerning the church attacked by Satan, and delivered by Christ, who, notwithstanding, is unkindly and ungratefully used: the church is often compared to a city, it is the city of God, and of which saints are fellow citizens; it is but a “little” one in comparison of the world, and, in some periods and ages of the world, lesser than in others; it is little and contemptible in the eyes of the world, and the inhabitants of it are mean and low in their own eyes; they are a little flock, Lu 12:32; and “few” in number that are “within it”: some are only of it, but not in it, or are external members only, which sometimes are many; or outward, not inward, court worshippers; they are few, comparatively, that belong to the invisible church, that are chosen, redeemed, called, and saved, Mt 20:16; there are but few able men, especially such as are capable of defending the church against its enemies.
and there came a great king against it; Satan, the prince of devils and of the posse of them in the air, the god and prince of the world of the ungodly, who works in their hearts, and leads them captive at his will who may be said to be “great” with respect to the numbers under him, legions of devils, and the whole world that lies in wickedness, or “in” or “under” the wicked one: and on account of the power he exercises, by divine permission, over the bodies and minds of men; and in comparison of the little city, and few men in it, being stronger than they,
Mt 12:24; he comes from the region of the air, where his posse are; or from going to and fro in the earth; or from hell, into which he is cast down: he comes by divine permission; in the manner evil spirits do, by temptation; in a hostile way, against the church and people of God, to destroy and devour them, if possible;
and besieged it; surrounded it on all sides, as the Gog and Magog army trader him will encompass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city,
Re 20:9;
and built great bulwarks against it; such as are called strong holds,
2Co 10:4. Satan’s first attack was upon the elect of God, in Adam; when he brought them, through sin, under a sentence of condemnation and death, though then they were preserved in Christ; and ever since he has been attacking the church by persecution, in order to take it by storm; and by spreading errors and heresies, such as tend to raze the foundation, and to pull down the superstructure of grace; and by promoting schisms, and laying such large principles of church communion, as tend to take away ordinances and discipline, the fence of the city; and by throwing in hand grenades of strife and contention, to raise a civil war among the citizens themselves; and, by various temptations to sin, to gain deserters: these are some of his bulwarks, batteries, and engines.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“A little city, and men therein only a few, – to which a great king came near, and he besieged it, and erected against it high bulwarks. And he met therein a poor wise man, and who saved the city by his wisdom; and no man thought of that poor man.” What may be said as to the hist. reference of these words has already been noticed. The “great king” is probably an Asiatic monarch, and that the Persian; Jerome translates verbally: Civitas parva et pauci in ea viri, venit contra eam – the former is the subj., and the latter its pred.; the object stands first, plastically rigid, and there then follows what happened to it; the structure of the sentence is fundamentally the same as Psa 104:25. The expression , which may be used of any kind of coming to anything, is here, as at Gen 32:9, meant of a hostile approach. The object of a siege and a hostile attack is usually denoted by , 2Ki 16:5; Isa 7:1. Two Codd. of de Rossi’s have the word , but that is an error of transcription; the plur. of is fem., Isa 29:4. is, as at Ecc 7:26, plur. of (from , to lie in wait); here, as elsewhere, and is the siege-tower erected on the ground or on the rampart, from which to spy out the weak points of the beleaguered place so as to assail it.
The words following are rendered by the Targ., Syr., Jerome, Arab., and Luther: “and there was found in it;” most interpreters explain accordingly, as they point to Ecc 1:10, , dicat aliquis . But that taht in this sequence of thought is = (Job 42:15), is only to be supposed if it were impossible to regard the king as the subject, which Ewald with the lxx and the Venet. does in spite of 294 b. It is true it would not be possible if, as Vaih. remarks, the finding presupposed a searching; but cf. on the contrary, e.g., Deu 24:1; Psa 116:3. We also say of one whom, contrary to expectation, a superior meets with, that he has found his match, that he has found his man. Thus it is here said of the great king, he found in the city a poor wise man – met therein with such an one, against whom his plan was shattered. is the adjective of the person of the poor man designated by ish misken (cf. 2Ch 2:13); the accents correctly indicate this relation. Instead of , the older language would use ; it does not, like the author here, use pure perfects, but makes the chief factum prominent by the fut. consec. The e of millet is that of limmed before Makkeph , referred back to the original a . The making prominent of the subject contained in millat by means of hu is favourable to the supposition that umatsa’ has the king as its subject; while even where no opposition (as e.g., at Jer 17:18) lies before us this pleonasm belongs to the stylistic peculiarities of the book. Instead of adam lo , the older form is ish lo ; perhaps the author here wishes to avoid the repetition of ish , but at Ecc 7:20 he also uses adam instead of ish , where no such reason existed.
Threatened by a powerful assailant, with whom it could not enter into battle, the little city, deserted by its men to a small remainder capable of bearing arms (this idea one appears to be under the necessity of connecting with … ), found itself in the greatest straits; but when all had been given up as lost, it was saved by the wisdom of the poor man (perhaps in the same way as Abel-beth-maacha, 2 Sam 20, by the wisdom of a woman). But after this was done, the wise poor man quickly again fell into the background; no man thought of him, as he deserved to have been thought of, as the saviour of the city; he was still poor, and remained so, and pauper homo raro vifit cum nomine claro . The poor man with his wisdom, Hengst. remarks, is Israel. And Wangemann (1856), generalizing the parable: “The beleaguered city is the life of the individual; the great king who lays siege to it is death and the judgment of the Lord.” But sounder and more appropriate is the remark of Luther: Est exemplum generale, cujus in multis historiis simile reperitur; and: Sic Themistocles multa bona fecit suis civibus, sed expertus summam intratitudinem . The author narrates an actual history, in which, on the one hand, he had seen what great things wisdom can do; and from which, on the other hand, he has drawn the following lesson:
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(14) Idle attempts have been made to find a historic reference in this passage. What is here told is so like the story (2 Samuel 20) of the deliverance of Abel-beth-Maachah by a wise woman, whose name, nevertheless, has not been preserved, that we cannot even be sure that the writer had any other real history in his mind.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Little city great king It is not known of what city or of what king this is told. There were nations and cities within the limits of the Persian empire that steadily and successfully defied the king’s power. The case of a city thus hemmed in, so that, in the long run, the choice of fate would be between famine and the sword, would be very desperate.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 842
WISDOM NOTIONALLY APPROVED, BUT PRACTICALLY DISREGARDED
Ecc 9:14-16. There was a little city, and few men within it: and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. 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. Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor mans wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
WHETHER the account here given us was an actual occurrence, or only a parabolic representation, we will not undertake to determine: but certainly the event described may easily be supposed to have taken place, and to have come to the knowledge of Solomon. In fact, a precisely similar event had taken place within the memory of Solomon; the only difference being, that the city was saved by a wise woman, instead of a poor wise man. After the rebellion of Absalom had been suppressed, a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, caused the defection of all the tribes of Israel. David therefore sent an army to pursue Sheba, and to besiege any city in which he should have taken refuge. Joab finding that Sheba was shut up in a city called Abel, went and battered the wall of the city, to throw it down. Then a wise woman called to Joab, and remonstrated with him on the subject of the assault which he was making; and undertook, that, if he would suspend his assault, the object of his indignation should be sacrificed, and his head be cast over the wall. She then went to all the people, in her wisdom, and prevailed on them to execute her project; and thus effected by her wisdom the deliverance of the city, and the preservation of all its inhabitants [Note: 2Sa 20:1-2; 2Sa 20:6; 2Sa 20:15-22.]. The minute resemblance which there is between this history and the event mentioned in the text, renders it highly probable, that the passage before us is a parable, founded upon the very fact which is here recorded.
But, whether it be a fact, or a parable, with what view is it mentioned? Some think that it is intended to represent the work of redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ, and the sad neglect with which he is treated, notwithstanding the benefits he has conferred. According to these persons, the interpretation is this. The little city, with a small garrison, is the Church, which confessedly consists of but a little flock. The great king who comes against it, and besieges it, is Satan, with all his hosts, even all the principalities and powers of hell. The poor wise man is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the counsels of eternal Wisdom, has devised a way for the deliverance of his people; yet after the deliverance he has wrought out for them, is by the generality most grievously neglected.
Now though there are parts of this which do not exactly accord with such an interpretation, yet we should not have altogether disapproved of the interpretation, provided Solomon himself had not given us any clew whereby to discover his real meaning: for it is not necessary that a parable should be applicable in all its parts: it is sufficient if in its main scope it be fitted to illustrate the point which it is intended to shadow forth. But we are precluded from affixing to this passage the sense which we have now suggested, because Solomons own reflection upon the supposed event determines beyond all controversy its precise import. Solomon intended to commend wisdom, as he frequently does in other parts of this book: in one place he exalts wisdom above folly [Note: Ecc 2:13.]; in another, above wealth [Note: Ecc 7:12.]; in another, above soldiers [Note: Ecc 7:19.], and weapons of war [Note: ver. 18.]. Thus in our text he exalts it above strength; Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength. Hence the subject for our consideration is two-fold;
I.
The excellency of wisdom
Wisdom is practical understanding, or knowledge regulated by sound judgment. Now this is greatly superior to physical force, in every point of view:
1.
In relation to temporal concerns
[The particular instance here adduced, the deliverance of a city by some extraordinary devices, will lead us to notice the operations of wisdom in the different departments of civilized life.
In war and politics it prevails far beyond mere bodily strength, however great. It is from superior skill in arms that we, who are so few in number, have been enabled to conquer an immense extent of territory, and by a very small army to keep in subjection eighty millions of people, who have scarcely one feeling, or one sentiment, in common with ourselves. And it is from the wisdom of our Constitution, and of our Governors, that we, under God, have rode out the storm which overwhelmed the rest of Europe, and have been enabled to rescue from their bondage the prostrate nations all around us. Had there been less wisdom at our helm, we, and all the nations of Europe, should probably at this moment have been sunk in the lowest state of degradation and misery.
In arts and manufactures the excellency of wisdom also most eminently appears. See the machinery that is used in every branch of trade! A few children are enabled to effect in a month what thousands of grown people could not by mere manual labour accomplish in a year.
Nor is the excellency of wisdom less visible in science and philosophy. Who can calculate the benefits that have arisen from the study of astronomy, and the invention of the compass? How light is all human strength when placed in the balance against these products of intellectual research!
In truth, it is wisdom which most elevates us above the beasts; and draws as broad a line of distinction between man and man, as light and darkness do in the material world.]
2.
In relation to spiritual affairs
[Here wisdom is all. See what mere human efforts can effect in heathen lands: what penances, what pilgrimages, what sufferings of different kinds, will men have recourse to, in order to obtain peace in their own souls! yet can they never obtain it. They may weary themselves even unto death, yet can they never secure to themselves any spiritual benefit whatever.
But let a man attend to the councils of wisdom given him by our blessed Lord, and all that he can desire is attained at once. Peace will flow into his soul, as soon as ever his conscience is sprinkled with the blood of Christ. His powers are invigorated with preter-natural strength, the moment he by faith apprehends the Lord Jesus: from being so weak as not to be able to do any thing, he becomes instantly so strong as to be able to do all things [Note: Joh 15:2. Php 4:13.]. A new set of energies are developed, and such as Satan is not able to withstand. That enemy, who with assured confidence of success besieged the soul, is constrained, like Sennacherib, to flee with precipitation and disgrace [Note: Jam 4:7.]. In a word, the simple device of a life of faith upon the Son of God effects every thing, liberating the soul from all its bondage, and making it victorious over all its enemies.]
But from daily observation, we are constrained to lament,
II.
The disregard shewn it, notwithstanding its acknowledged worth.
By how few are its dictates attended to as they ought to be! Alas! they are neglected and despised, by the great mass of mankind.
2.
By the gay and thoughtless
[They have no ear for the counsels of Wisdom. They will commend her in general terms; but will have as little as possible to do with her instructions. Let the parent labour ever so much to instil wisdom into the minds of his children, he will find, to his grief, that the enchantments of folly baffle all his efforts. It should seem no difficult task to prevail on them to think before they act, and to regulate their conduct by sound principles: but though he give line upon line, and precept upon precept, he will have reason to bless himself, if, after all his endeavours, his family do not embitter his days by their faults and follies. The word of God too may be acknowledged by them as good: but not a precept in it is suffered to have an ascendant over their mind. Sabbath after Sabbath are divine instructions poured into their ears; but none are suffered to descend into the heart. In fact, they are despised; and if obtruded upon the mind as principles of action, they are rejected with scorn and contempt.]
2.
By the formal and self-righteous
[Wisdoms sublimest dictates are by these regarded as the reveries of a heated imagination. The whole life of faith is foolishness in the eyes of a self-righteous Pharisee. He sees no suitableness in it to the end proposed. He thinks that an attendance on ordinances, and a performance of some moral duties, are quite sufficient: Why should he mourn and weep? What is there in faith that can benefit his soul? Why may not his works find acceptance with God? In vain is he told that the Gospel is the wisdom of God in a mystery; and that the very angels in heaven are made wiser by the revelation of it to the Church [Note: Eph 3:10.]. In vain is he told what the Lord Jesus Christ, that Wonderful Counsellor, has done for the redemption of a ruined world, and will do in all who believe in him. No sense of obligation abides upon his mind; no expressions of gratitude flow from his lips: the Benefactor is forgotten, and the benefit despised: and he chooses rather to seek his resources within himself, than to depend for them on the bounty of another.]
3.
The backsliding professor
[The man who has once professed godliness, has given his testimony to the excellence of wisdom. But when he declines from the way of godliness, he revokes his testimony, and becomes an open advocate for folly: he proclaims to all, that the ways of wisdom are incapable of affording him any solid comfort; or, at all events, that there is more happiness to be found in the vanities of time and sense, than in the service of the living God. Yes, thou backslider, thou exaltest folly, and praisest the wicked [Note: Pro 28:4.]: and, if thou condemnest, as thou must, the inhabitants of the city that left their benefactor to pine away in poverty and contempt, much more must thou condemn thyself, who hast, by thy declensions, crucified the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.]
Let me now improve the subject, by recommending to your adoption,
1.
A life of consideration and thoughtfulness
[The man who has begun to think and to consider, has already got more than half way to heaven. It is inconsideration that ruins the whole world. Would men but inquire from day to day, What have I done? Has it been consonant with the dictates of sound wisdom? Have I proposed to myself the best ends, and have I pursued them by the fittest means? how much evil would they avoid, and how much misery would they escape! O that I might prevail upon you to enter on such a course as this! Admirable is that advice of Solomon, Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house [Note: Pro 24:27.]. This is what any prudent builder will do, though he is only constructing a temporary habitation for the body: and how much more should we do it, who are building for the immortal soul! Adopt this plan then: think what you have to do for God: think by what means you may best advance the interest of your souls; and redeem, as it were, every hour in preparation for eternity. Walk, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.]
2.
A life of real piety
[Nothing but this will inspire true wisdom: nothing but this will enable us to counteract with effect the assaults of our great adversary. Let us seek from above a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and of might: then, whether we be poor or rich, we shall assuredly be victorious. Indeed the poor are for the most part more highly favoured than the rich. The rich are too apt to be self-confident and self-sufficient; whilst the poor accept thankfully the proferred aids of the Gospel. Hence the things which are hid from the wise and prudent, are frequently revealed to babes; and hence, whilst the rich are vanquished, the poor are crowned with victory. Let it not be forgotten, that in the Lord alone we have either righteousness or strength. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts: yes, by the Spirit of the living God revealing the Saviour to us, and communicating strength out of his fulness, we shall be enabled to withstand in the evil day, and shall have that joyful song put into our mouths, Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: (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.
I am inclined to think that what the preacher here delivers as a parable; and if so, the spiritual sense of it is not far to fetch. If the city here besieged means the church of Christ, it may well be called a little city. Fear not, little flock, said Jesus, when comforting his church. It is small, comparatively considered, to the world’s wide wilderness, Luk 12:32 . How this city was besieged, needs not be told. Enemies without and within. The poor man can be no other than Jesus; for though he is in himself rich, yet, for our sakes, he became poor. 2Co 8:9 . How Jesus manifested his wisdom, is also equally plain. Indeed grace, wisdom, love, mercy, favour, all, all were displayed by our Jesus, in his unequalled work of delivering us from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us. And what the preacher saith of the ingratitude of the whole city delivered by him, is a most apt representation of the universal unworthiness and ingratitude of God’s Israel. No man remembered that same poor man. Blessed Jesus! I take shame to myself in the recollection of my own personal forgetfulness, of thee, and of thine unequalled love to me this day! Oh! how have I forgotten thee times without number! And not only I, Lord, but all have forgotten thee. Precious Lord! hath thy love to us been so great? And are there none, no, not one of all our nature to love thee, as thou hast loved us? Oh! what a state must our nature have been in to all eternity, hadst thou not interposed to deliver us from it. Hail! thou wise Poor Man! thou hast by thy wisdom delivered the city, thy Church!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 9:14
Ver. 14. There was a little city. ] Such as was Lampsacum, besieged by Alexander, and saved by Anaximenes; Rhodes, besieged by the great Turk; Rochelle, by the French king; Geneva, by the Duke of Savoy. This last, a little city, a small people surrounded with enemies, and barred out from all aid of neighbour cities and churches, yet is strangely upheld. a Well may they write as they do on the one side of their coin, Deus noster pugnat pro nobis, Our God fights for us. b
a Brightman.
b Scultet.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a little city. For the application of verses: Ecc 9:14-16, note the following illustrations: poor (2Co 8:9. Php 1:2, Php 1:6-8); wise (1Co 1:24); delivered (1Co 1:18, 1Co 1:25); none remembered (Isa 53:3); despised (1Co 1:28); words heard in quiet (Job 6:24. Eze 1:24, Eze 1:25. Luk 10:39).
men. Hebrew, plural of ‘enosh. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
There was: 2Sa 20:15-22, 2Ki 6:24-33, 2Ki 7:1-20
Reciprocal: Deu 20:20 – thou shalt build Jdg 8:35 – showed 1Sa 23:12 – They will 2Sa 20:16 – General 2Sa 20:22 – in her wisdom Pro 24:5 – A wise Isa 33:6 – wisdom 1Co 12:22 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE SAVIOUR OF THE CITY
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it, etc.
Ecc 9:14-18
I. The little city.At first sight it may seem rather paradoxical to compare this great world of ours, with its almost innumerable inhabitants, its vast area, its enormous resources, to the little city with few men within it. But do we not, comparatively speaking, take too exalted a view of this little world? For relatively little it is after all, but an insignificant fraction of Gods great universe. We know nothing of the circumstances to which the little city owed its dangerit may or may not have been its own faultbut we do know the cause of the peril in which the human family has been involved, and that the blame lies entirely with ourselves. We have forced God into the position of a foe, although He is in His heart our best and truest Friend.
II. The great king.Whom are we to see represented by the great kingan angry God about to inflict judgment or a malignant spirit of evil assailing the human heart with his temptations? The sad and terrible truth is that we need not be at any pains to answer this question, for in one point God and Satan are at one, and that is in the recognition of the demands of justice against the sinner. Satan, from this point of view, is but the executioner of the Divine decree, and obtains his power over us in virtue of the sanctions of the broken Law. Satan is only to be feared when his assaults are backed by the law of God.
III. The poor wise man.Our Wise Man, Himself the innocent, offered Himself, with a wisdom which was the child of love, that the guilt of our city might first be imputed to Him the innocent, and that His innocence might be imputed to our city, so that by His voluntary self-sacrifice one man might die for the city, and the city itself might be safe.
Canon Hay Aitken.
Illustration
Sir W. Napiers Peninsular War, 6 vols., closes with these words: Thus the war terminated, and with it all remembrance of the veterans services. His brother, Sir Charles, was the first British general who ever recorded the names of private soldiers who had distinguished themselves, side by side with those of officers.