Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 verse 13 Holy Bible
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
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Then I saw that wisdom is better than foolish ways--as the light is better than the dark.
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And I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as light excelleth darkness.
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Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
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Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness.
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And I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom above folly, like the advantage of the light above the darkness.
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - Then (and) I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness; or, there is profit, advantage (περίσσεια Septuagint, Ecclesiastes 1:3) to wisdom over folly, as the advantage of light over darkness. This result, at any rate, was obtained - he learned that wisdom had a certain value, that it was as much superior to folly, in its effects on men, as light is more beneficial than darkness. It is a natural metaphor to represent spiritual and intellectual development as light, and mental and moral depravity as darkness (comp. Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5).
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) Wisdom surely has an advantage over folly, yet how full of "vanity" is that advantage. Let the wise man have done his best, soon death comes; the wise man is forgotten, and all he has gained by his labour passes, without labour, into the hands of one who may be no inheritor of his wisdom.Excelleth.--There is profit in wisdom more than in folly. The same word "profit" is used as in Ecclesiastes 5:11. (See Note on Ecclesiastes 1:3.)