Ecclesiastes 6:8 BSB

Ecclesiastes 6:8

What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For what advantage hath the wise more than the fool? or what hath the poor man, that knoweth how to walk before the living?

KJV

For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

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Commentary

2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

For what hath the wise more than the fool? - They must both labor for the same end. Both depend upon the labor of themselves or others for the necessaries of life. Both must eat and drink in order to live; and the rich man can no more eat two meals at a time, than he can comfortably wear two changes of raiment. The necessaries of life are the same to both, and their condition in life is nearly similar; liable to the same diseases, dissolution, and death.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Why, he is better beloved and more respected among his neighbours, and has a better interest than many a rich man that is griping and haughty. Why he has as much of the comfort of this life, has food and raiment, and is therewith content, and so is as truly rich as he that has abundance.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
כִּ֛י	ki	for	H3588 →
מַה־	mah-	what?	H4100 →
יּוֹתֵ֥ר	yo.Ter	advantage	H3148 →
לֶחָכָ֖ם	le.cha.Kham	[belongs] to the wise person	H2450 →
מִֽן־	min-	more than	H4480 →
הַכְּסִ֑יל	ha.ke.Sil	the fool	H3684 →
מַה־	mah-	what?	H4100 →
לֶּעָנִ֣י	le.'a.Ni	[belongs] to the poor [person]	H6041 →
יוֹדֵ֔עַ	yo.De.a'	[who] knows	H3045 →
לַהֲלֹ֖ךְ	la.ha.Lokh	to walk	H1980 →
נֶ֥גֶד	Ne.ged	before	H5048 →
הַחַיִּֽים׃	ha.chai.Yim	the living	H2416 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Genesis 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
leads to
- Philippians 4:13
  I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Ephesians 3:20
  Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Luke 1:6
  Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
- Genesis 18:14
  Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- Genesis 6:9
  This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
Through
1 Timothy 6:17
Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us…
leads to
- Proverbs 11:28
  He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.
- Acts 14:17
  Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
- Matthew 19:23
  Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 6 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 6 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Ecclesiastes

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Ecclesiastes