Ecclesiastes 9:13

13 One day as I was observing how wisdom fares on this earth, I saw something that made me sit up and take notice.

Ecclesiastes 9:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 9:13

This wisdom have I seen also under the sun
Or, "this also I have seen under the sun, even wisdom" ^F8: besides those things he had, just now observed, he took notice that there was such a thing as wisdom among men; though success did not always attend the wise, the understanding, and skilful; and though there was so much ignorance in men, of their own time, and were so easily and suddenly ensnared in an evil time; and it [seemed] great unto me;
Solomon had a high value for wisdom, and he still retained the same sentiments of it he had before, in ( Ecclesiastes 2:13 ) ( Ecclesiastes 7:11 Ecclesiastes 7:12 Ecclesiastes 7:19 ) , of which he gives the following instance.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F8 (vmvh txt hmkx ytyar hz Mg) "Hoc etiam vidi sub sole, nempe sapientiam", Tigurine version; "etiam hoc vidi, sapientiam sub sole", Cocceius; "etiam hoc vidi, videlicet, sapientiam sub sole", Gejerus.

Ecclesiastes 9:13 In-Context

11 I took another walk around the neighborhood and realized that on this earth as it is - The race is not always to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor satisfaction to the wise, Nor riches to the smart, Nor grace to the learned. Sooner or later bad luck hits us all.

12 No one can predict misfortune. Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds in a trap, So men and women are caught By accidents evil and sudden. Wisdom Is Better than Muscle

13 One day as I was observing how wisdom fares on this earth, I saw something that made me sit up and take notice.

14 There was a small town with only a few people in it. A strong king came and mounted an attack, building trenches and attack posts around it.

15 There was a poor but wise man in that town whose wisdom saved the town, but he was promptly forgotten. (He was only a poor man, after all.)