Ecclesiastes 8:1
in Ecclesiastes 8Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
KJV
Who is as the wise man? and who knoweth the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 8
Commentary
12 notes on this verse"Who is like the wise man? And who knows what things mean? A man's wisdom lights up his face, and the boldness of his face is transformed. "He had taught above that it is hard to find a good man, and he had answered the question to the contrary, saying that men are made good by God, but that they fall into sin because of their own free will.
This site's exposition
Who is like the wise man
The questions Who is like the wise man and Who knows the interpretation of a matter set the chapter's subject. A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and Gill and Henry both note the physical language for wisdom's inward light. The verse heads the chapter, whose wisdom is tested against kings.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
As it is impossible to recognize a white thing if one does not know the color white, and as it is impossible to recognize science if one does not know what science is, so it is also impossible to recognize a wise person by someone …
Here he means that the wisdom of a person makes the face shine, but not the face of the body, not a part of the flesh, but the face of the inner person.… The face of the inner person is illuminated by wisdom. But wisdom, …
A commentator
Gregory of NeocaesareaA Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes · Written before 270.
proposed
Moreover, wisdom, when it is found in a man, shows itself also in its possessor's face, and makes his countenance to shine; as, on the other hand, effrontery convicts the man in whom it has taken up its abode, so soon as he is seen, …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 8 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Above he described the vanity of concupiscence. Here against that vanity he intends to give the remedy of wisdom: for no one is rescued from concupiscence unless he walks with wisdom. He exhorts therefore in this part to adhere to wisdom from a fourfold consideration: …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Who is as the wise man?.... Who is as the first man, that was made upright, and was a wise man? not one of his sons. Or who is as the wise man, meaning himself? no man; he was the wisest of men; and yet he could not find out wisdom, and the reason of things, and the wickedness of folly, Ecc 7:25; how therefore should any other man? what can the man do that comes after the king?
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who is wise - There are few wise men in this world. Who knoweth - How few understand the reasons of things and can rightly expound the word and works of God.
It advances him above his neighbours, and makes him more excellent than they: Who is as the wise man? Note, Heavenly wisdom will make a man an incomparable man. No man without grace, though he be learned, or noble, or rich, is to be compared with a man that has true grace and is therefore accepted of God.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And who - Rather, and as he who knoweth. The possessor of wisdom excels other people: it imparts serenity to his countenance, and removes the expression of gloom or fierceness (see the marginal reference).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
MAURER translates, "The shining (brightness) of his face is doubled," arguing that the Hebrew noun for "boldness" is never used in a bad sense (Pr 4:18). Or as Margin, "strength" (Ec 7:19; But the adjective is used in a bad sense (De 28:50).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Who knoweth the interpretation - פשר pesher, a pure Chaldee word, found nowhere else in the Bible but in the Chaldee parts of Daniel. “A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine.” Every state of the heart shines through the countenance; but there is such an evidence of the contented, happy, pure, benevolent state of the soul in the face of a truly pious man, that it must be observed, and cannot be mistaken. In the Hebrew the former clause of this verse ends the preceding chapter. Who has ever been deceived in the appearance of the face that belonged to a savage heart? Those who represent, by painting or otherwise, a wise man, with a gravely sour face, striking awe and forbidding approach, have either mistaken the man, or are unacquainted with some essential principles of their art. The boldness of his face shall be changed - Instead of ישנא yeshunne, which signifies shall be hated, many of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS. have ישנה yeshunneh, shall be changed or doubled. Hence the verse might be read, “The wisdom of a man shall illuminate his face; and the strength of his countenance shall be doubled.” He shall speak with full confidence and conviction on a subject which he perfectly understands, and all will feel the weight of his observations.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Who is like the wise person. Who in the world is as important as a wise man?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Who is as a wise man, that he can stand before the wisdom of the Lord, and know the interpretations of his words, like the prophets? The wisdom of a wise man enlightens the brightness of his face among the righteous, and as for the impudent, all his ways are changed from good to bad.
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. 2 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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֚י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| כְּהֶ֣חָכָ֔ם | kehechakham | [is] like the wise [person] | H2450 → | 138 times |
| וּמִ֥י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יוֹדֵ֖עַ | yodea' | [is] knowing | H3045 → | 945 times |
| פֵּ֣שֶׁר | pesher | [the] interpretation of | H6592 → | |
| דָּבָ֑ר | davar | a matter | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| חָכְמַ֤ת | chakhemat | [the] wisdom of | H2451 → | 153 times |
| אָדָם֙ | ʾadam | anyone | H120 → | 551 times |
| תָּאִ֣יר | tair | it makes shine | H215 → | |
| פָּנָ֔יו | panav | face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְעֹ֥ז | veoz | and [the] strength of | H5797 → | |
| פָּנָ֖יו | panav | face his | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְשֻׁנֶּֽא׃ | yeshune' | it is changed | H8132 → |
מִ֚יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
כְּהֶ֣חָכָ֔ם[is] like the wise [person]
kehechakhamH2450 →138 times
וּמִ֥יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
יוֹדֵ֖עַ[is] knowing
yodea'H3045 →945 times
פֵּ֣שֶׁר[the] interpretation of
pesherH6592 →
דָּבָ֑רa matter
davarH1697 →1440 times
חָכְמַ֤ת[the] wisdom of
chakhematH2451 →153 times
אָדָם֙anyone
ʾadamH120 →551 times
תָּאִ֣ירit makes shine
tairH215 →
פָּנָ֔יוface his
panavH6440 →2123 times
וְעֹ֥זand [the] strength of
veozH5797 →
פָּנָ֖יוface his
panavH6440 →2123 times
יְשֻׁנֶּֽא׃it is changed
yeshune'H8132 →
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
Acts 6:15All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
it leads to
- Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
- Exodus 34:29–35
And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.
- Matthew 17:2
There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
- Matthew 13:43
Through
Deuteronomy 28:50a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:6
I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
- Isaiah 47:6
Through
Job 33:23Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
it leads to
- Malachi 3:1
“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He…
- Ecclesiastes 7:28
While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.
- 2 Corinthians 5:20
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: Be reconciled to God.
- Malachi 2:7
For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Malachi 3:1
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 8; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 233:5; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 233:16; Gregory of Neocaesarea, A Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.