Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 verse 11 Holy Bible

ASV Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance; yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.
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BBE Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.
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DARBY Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, and profitable to them that see the sun.
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KJV Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.
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WBT Ecclesiastes 7:11


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WEB Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
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YLT Ecclesiastes 7:11

Wisdom `is' good with an inheritance, And an advantage `it is' to those beholding the sun.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 11. - Such hasty judgment is incompatible with true wisdom and sagacity. Wisdom is good with an inheritance; Septuagint, Ἀγαθὴ σοφία μετὰ κληρονομίας. Vulgate, Utilior eat sapientia cam divitiis. The sentence thus rendered seems to mean that wealth lends a prestige to wisdom, that the man is happy who possesses both. The inheritance spoken of is an hereditary one; the man who is "rich with ancestral wealth" is enabled to employ his wisdom to good purpose, his position adding weight to his words and actions, and relieving him from the low pursuit of money-making. To this effect Wright quotes Menander - Μακάριος ὅστις οὐσίαν καὶ νοῦν ἕχειΞρῆται γὰρ οῦτος εἰς α} δεῖ ταύτῃ καλῶς. "Blest is the man who wealth and wisdom hath,For he can use his riches as he ought." (Comp. Proverbs 14:24.) Many commentators, thinking such a sentiment alien front the context, render the particle עִם not "with," but "as" Wisdom is [as] good as an inheritance" (see on Ecclesiastes 2:16). This is putting wisdom on rather a low platform, and one would have expected to read some such aphorism as "Wisdom is better than rubies" (Proverbs 8:11), if Koheleth had intended to make any such comparison. It appears then most expedient to take im in the sense of "moreover," "as well as," "and" (camp. 1 Samuel 17:42, "ruddy, and (ira) of a fair countenance"). "Wisdom is good, and an inheritance is good; 'both are good, but the advantages of the former, as ver. 12 intimates, far outweigh those of the latter. And by it there is profit to them that see the sun; rather, and an advantage for those that see the, sun. However useful wealth may be, wisdom is that which is really beneficial to all who live and rejoice in the light of day. In Homer the phrase, ὁρᾶν φάος ἠελίοιο, "to see the light of the sun" ('Iliad,' 18:61), signifies merely "to live;" Plumptre considers it to be used here and in Ecclesiastes 19:7 in order to convey the thought that, after all, life has its bright side. Cox would take it to mean to live much in the sun, i.e. to lead an active life - which is an imported modern notion.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(11) With.--This is the ordinary meaning of the word, and accordingly is the rendering of the older translators, but the marginal "as good as," or "equally with," agrees so much better with the context, that the only question is whether the word will bear that meaning. And though in some places where it is translated "like," the rendering "with" may be substituted, yet the passages in Ecclesiastes 2:16, "no resemblance to the wise equally with the foolish," Job 9:26, "my days have passed like the swift ships," seem to be decisive that it will.Profit.--In defence of the marginal "yea, better," may be pleaded that the word is translated as an adverb (Esther 6:6; and in this book (Ecclesiastes 2:16; Ecclesiastes 6:8; Ecclesiastes 6:11; Ecclesiastes 7:16; Ecclesiastes 12:9; Ecclesiastes 12:12). . . .