And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.
- KJV Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
- NKJV Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.
- NASB Then I saw that wisdom surpasses foolishness as light surpasses darkness.
- NLT I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Wisdom surpasses folly as light surpasses darkness. Wisdom has real and obvious value over foolishness.
Overview
The Preacher affirms a genuine, relative advantage of wisdom over folly, comparing it to light over darkness. This balances his sober conclusions, acknowledging that wise living is better than foolish living. Yet, as the next verses show, this advantage is qualified by death, which comes to wise and fool alike, pointing to the need for hope beyond the grave.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Eph 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Eccl 7:11–12Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
- Eccl 11:7Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
- Matt 6:23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
- Ps 119:105Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
- Luke 11:34–35Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness.
- Mal 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- Ps 119:130The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.
- Prov 4:5–7Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
- Eccl 7:19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
- Eccl 9:16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
- Eccl 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
- Prov 4:18–19The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
- Prov 16:16How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 2:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.