there was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it.
Parallel translations
- WEB There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
- KJV 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:
- BSB There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.
- NKJV There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares around it.
- NLT There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it.
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
A small city with few inhabitants was besieged by a great king who built mighty siegeworks against it. The scene sets up a striking lesson about the power of wisdom over force.
Overview
Qoheleth paints a vivid picture of overwhelming odds: a tiny city facing a powerful king's assault. The disparity heightens the surprise of the deliverance to come. The little city saved against all expectation foreshadows the biblical pattern in which God delivers the weak and lowly by unexpected means (1 Corinthians 1:27-28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- 2 Sam 20:15–22They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down.
- 2 Kgs 6:24After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.
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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 9:14 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
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