Then I said: “Wisdom is better than strength. Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, And his words are not heard.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
- KJV Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
- BSB And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
- NASB So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are ignored.
- NLT So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.
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
The Preacher concludes that wisdom is better than strength, even though the poor man's wisdom is despised and unheeded. Wisdom's true value is not measured by the world's esteem.
Overview
Drawing the moral of the parable, Qoheleth affirms wisdom's superiority over brute strength while lamenting that the poor are often ignored. The lesson is that worth and recognition do not always align. It reflects the gospel pattern in which God's saving wisdom in Christ is rejected by many yet remains supremely powerful (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eccl 7:19Wisdom is a strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
- Prov 24:5A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;
- Prov 21:22A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence.
- Mark 6:2–3When the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things?” and, “What is the wisdom that is given to this man, that such mighty works come about by his hands?
- Jas 2:2–6For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in;
- 1 Cor 1:26–29For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;
- Prov 10:15The rich man’s wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
- Eccl 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroys much good.
- John 7:47–49The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you?
- John 9:24–34So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
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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 9:16 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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