Ecclesiastes 2:13

13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

Ecclesiastes 2:13 in Other Translations

13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.

13 I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness.

13 But I did see that it's better to be smart than stupid, just as light is better than darkness.

13 And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

Ecclesiastes 2:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:13

Then I sat that wisdom excelleth folly
However, this upon a review of things he could not but own, that natural wisdom and knowledge, though there was no true happiness and satisfaction in them, yet they greatly exceeded folly and madness; as far as light excelleth darkness;
as the light of the day the darkness of the night; the one is pleasant and delightful, the other very uncomfortable; the one useful to direct in walking, the other very unsafe to walk in: light sometimes signifies joy and prosperity, and darkness adversity; the one is used to express the light of grace, and the other the darkness of sin and ignorance; now as the natural light exceeds darkness, and prosperity exceeds adversity and calamities, and a state of grace exceeds a state of sin and wickedness, so wisdom exceeds folly.

Ecclesiastes 2:13 In-Context

11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done?

13 I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

14 The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.

15 Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.”

Cross References

• 1. Ecclesiastes 7:19; Ecclesiastes 9:18
• 2. Ecclesiastes 7:11-12