Prediger 2:14

14 der Weise hat seine Augen in seinem Kopfe, der Tor aber wandelt in der Finsternis. Und ich erkannte zugleich, daß einerlei Geschick ihnen allen widerfährt;

Prediger 2:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise man's eyes [are] in his head
And so are the eyes of every man; but the sense is, he makes use of them, he looks about him, and walks circumspectly; he takes heed to his goings, he foresees the evil, and avoids it; or the danger he is exposed unto, and guards against it. Some understand it, in a more spiritual and evangelical sense, of Christ, who is the head of the body the church, and of every true believer; of everyone that is wise unto salvation, whose eyes are on him alone for righteousness, salvation, and eternal life; or on whom Christ's eyes are; who is said to have seven eyes, with which he guides, guards, and protects his people; but the fool walketh in darkness;
his eyes are to the ends of the earth; he walks incautiously, without any circumspection or guard; he knows not where he is, nor where he is going, nor where he shall set his foot next, nor at what he may stumble; wherefore a wise man is to be preferred to a fool, as wisdom is to folly. The Midrash interprets the wise man of Abraham, and the fool of Nimrod; and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all;
the wise man and the fool; or, "but I myself perceived" F23 though it is allowed that a wise man is better than a fool; yet this also must be owned, which Solomon's experience proved, and every man's does, that the same things befall wise men and fools; they are liable to the same diseases of body, and disasters of life; to poverty and distress, to loss of estate, children, and friends, and to death itself.


FOOTNOTES:

F23 (yteryw) "sed agnovi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "sed cognovi", Rambachius; "but I saw", Broughton.

Prediger 2:14 In-Context

12 Und ich wandte mich, um Weisheit und Unsinn und Torheit zu betrachten. Denn was wird der Mensch tun, der nach dem Könige kommen wird? Was man schon längst getan hat.
13 Und ich sah, daß die Weisheit den Vorzug hat vor der Torheit, gleich dem Vorzuge des Lichtes vor der Finsternis:
14 der Weise hat seine Augen in seinem Kopfe, der Tor aber wandelt in der Finsternis. Und ich erkannte zugleich, daß einerlei Geschick ihnen allen widerfährt;
15 und ich sprach in meinem Herzen: Gleich dem Geschick des Toren wird auch mir widerfahren, und wozu bin ich dann überaus weise gewesen? Und ich sprach in meinem Herzen, daß auch das Eitelkeit sei.
16 Denn dem Weisen, gleichwie dem Toren, wird kein ewiges Andenken zuteil, weil in den kommenden Tagen alles längst vergessen sein wird. Und wie stirbt der Weise gleich dem Toren hin!
The Elberfelder Bible is in the public domain.