Ecclesiastes 7:11
New International Version
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.

New Living Translation
Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life.

English Standard Version
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.

Berean Standard Bible
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

King James Bible
Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.

New King James Version
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And profitable to those who see the sun.

New American Standard Bible
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, And an advantage to those who see the sun.

NASB 1995
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an advantage to those who see the sun.

NASB 1977
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an advantage to those who see the sun.

Legacy Standard Bible
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an advantage to those who see the sun.

Amplified Bible
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an [excellent] advantage for those who see the sun.

Christian Standard Bible
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun,

American Standard Version
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance; yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Wisdom is better than a supply of arms, and it is greater for those seeing the sun

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and there is an advantage by it to them that see the sun.

Contemporary English Version
Having wisdom is better than an inheritance.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.

English Revised Version
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance: yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun.

Good News Translation
Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance

International Standard Version
Wise use of possessions is good; it brings benefit to the living.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, Yea, a profit to them that see the sun.

Literal Standard Version
Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance, | And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.

Majority Standard Bible
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.

New American Bible
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and profitable to those who see the sun.

NET Bible
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing; it benefits those who see the light of day.

New Revised Standard Version
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.

New Heart English Bible
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

Webster's Bible Translation
Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.

World English Bible
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.

Young's Literal Translation
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And an advantage it is to those beholding the sun.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Value of Wisdom
10Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this. 11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun. 12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.…

Cross References
Proverbs 8:10
Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.

Proverbs 8:11
For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.

Ecclesiastes 2:13
And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:

Ecclesiastes 7:10
Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is unwise of you to ask about this.

Ecclesiastes 11:7
Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.


Treasury of Scripture

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

good with an inheritance

Ecclesiastes 9:15-18
Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man…

1 Kings 3:6-9
And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day…

Luke 16:8,9
And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light…

them

Ecclesiastes 11:7
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:

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Ecclesiastes 7
1. remedies against vanity are, a good name
2. mortification
7. patience
11. wisdom
23. The difficulty of wisdom














(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). . . .

Verse 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 ἕχει
Ξρῆται 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.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Wisdom,
חָכְמָ֖ה (ḥāḵ·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2451: Wisdom

like
עִֽם־ (‘im-)
Preposition
Strong's 5973: With, equally with

an inheritance,
נַחֲלָ֑ה (na·ḥă·lāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

[is] good,
טוֹבָ֥ה (ṭō·w·ḇāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

and it benefits
וְיֹתֵ֖ר (wə·yō·ṯêr)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3148: Superiority, advantage, excess

those who see
לְרֹאֵ֥י (lə·rō·’ê)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 7200: To see

the sun.
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ (haš·šā·meš)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 8121: The sun, the east, a ray, a notched battlement


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 7:11 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 7:10
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