Ecclesiastes 2:13
in Ecclesiastes 2And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
KJV
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verse"And I perceived that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. "I am allowed, he says, to see through that very wisdom of mankind, which is mixed with uncertainty. Nor is it possible, he adds, for it to flow into our minds so clearly as it does into the king and our creator. I know however that the difference between wisdom and folly is great even as much as one can differentiate between day and night, between light and dark.
This site's exposition
Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly
on Ecclesiastes 2:12-14
The Teacher weighs wisdom and madness and folly and grants that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness. The proof is sight against blindness: The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet he came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
This site's exposition
wisdom exceeds folly
Clarke and Wesley read the verse as a concession: wisdom cannot make a man happy, yet it far exceeds pleasure and folly in use. Bonaventure takes the light as wisdom itself, coming down from the Father of lights. A blind man, says Chrysostom, cannot know what light is worth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homily 83 · Written before 407.
proposed
And what is the use of understanding, thou wilt say, to the poor man? As might be expected thou art ignorant; for neither doth the blind man know what is the advantage of light. Listen to Solomon, saying, "As far as light excelleth darkness, so doth wisdom excel folly." But how shall we instruct him that is in darkness? For the love of money is darkness, permitting nothing that is to appear as it is, but otherwise. For much as one in darkness, though he should see a golden vessel, though a precious stone, though purple garments, supposes them to be nothing, for he sees not their beauty; so also he that is in covetousness, knows not as he ought the beauty of those things that are worthy of our care. Disperse then I pray thee the mist that arises from this passion, and then wilt thou see the nature of things. But nowhere do these things so plainly appear as in poverty, nowhere are those things so disproved which seem to be, and are not, as in self-denial.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Here the second point is noted, namely the discovered preeminence of wisdom over folly, because it surpasses it, as it were, beyond all proportion. For which reason he says: "And I saw that wisdom so far exceeded folly," that is, was nobler, "as light differs …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"I saw that wisdom excels folly as much as light differs from darkness." Therefore wisdom is light: light, I say, descending from above from the Father of lights, from whom is every best gift and every perfect gift. This light descends to illuminate our cognitive …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I saw - I allowed thus much. Although wisdom is not sufficient to make men happy, yet it is of a far greater use than vain pleasures, or any other follies.
He enquires how far the business and wealth of this world will go towards making men happy, and concludes, from his own experience, that, to those who set their hearts upon it, "it is vanity and vexation of spirit," (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then I sat that wisdom excelleth folly,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly - Though in none of these pursuits I found the supreme good, the happiness my soul longed after; yet I could easily perceive that wisdom excelled the others, as far as light excels darkness. And he immediately subjoins the reasons.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I [then] turned my attention to behold wisdom. I turn away from all my affairs to delve into Torah, and madness and folly, [i.e.,] the punishment for transgressions.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְרָאִ֣יתִי | veraiti | and I saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אָ֔נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| שֶׁיֵּ֥שׁ | sheiyesh | that there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| יִתְר֛וֹן | yitron | [is] advantage | H3504 → | 10 times |
| לַֽחָכְמָ֖ה | lachakhemah | of <the> wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| מִן־ | min- | more than | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַסִּכְל֑וּת | hasikhlut | <the> folly | H5531 → | 7 times |
| כִּֽיתְר֥וֹן | kitron | like [the] advantage of | H3504 → | 10 times |
| הָא֖וֹר | haor | <the> light | H216 → | 121 times |
| מִן־ | min- | more than | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃ | hachoshekh | <the> darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
וְרָאִ֣יתִיand I saw
veraitiH7200 →1300 times
אָ֔נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
שֶׁיֵּ֥שׁthat there
sheiyeshH3426 →140 times
יִתְר֛וֹן[is] advantage
yitronH3504 →10 times
לַֽחָכְמָ֖הof <the> wisdom
lachakhemahH2451 →153 times
מִן־more than
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַסִּכְל֑וּת<the> folly
hasikhlutH5531 →7 times
כִּֽיתְר֥וֹןlike [the] advantage of
kitronH3504 →10 times
הָא֖וֹר<the> light
haorH216 →121 times
מִן־more than
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃<the> darkness
hachoshekhH2822 →80 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ephesians 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
it leads to
- John 8:12
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- John 12:46
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness.
- Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified…
- Colossians 1:13
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son,
- John 8:12
Through
Matthew 6:23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
it leads to
- 1 John 2:11
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
- Matthew 6:22
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
- Isaiah 5:20–21
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
- 1 John 2:11
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homily 83; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.