Ecclesiastes 2:14

14 The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the 1fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that 2one fate befalls them both.

Ecclesiastes 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.

Ecclesiastes 2:14 In-Context

12 So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?
13 And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.
14 The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both.
15 Then I said to myself, "As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?" So I said to myself, "This too is vanity."
16 For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!

Cross References 2

  • 1. 1 John 2:11
  • 2. Psalms 49:10; Ecclesiastes 3:19; Ecclesiastes 6:6; Ecclesiastes 7:2; Ecclesiastes 9:2, 3
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