Ecclesiastes 9:13
New International Version
I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:

New Living Translation
Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works.

English Standard Version
I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

Berean Standard Bible
I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:

King James Bible
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

New King James Version
This wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and it seemed great to me:

New American Standard Bible
This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me:

NASB 1995
Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.

NASB 1977
Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.

Legacy Standard Bible
Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me.

Amplified Bible
This [illustration of] wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and great it was to me:

Christian Standard Bible
I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me:

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me:

American Standard Version
I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it is great to me

Brenton Septuagint Translation
This I also saw to be wisdom under the sun, and it is great before me:

Contemporary English Version
Once I saw what people really think of wisdom, and it made an impression on me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to me to be very great:

English Revised Version
I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I also have seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it made a deep impression on me.

Good News Translation
There is something else I saw, a good example of how wisdom is regarded in this world.

International Standard Version
I also observed this example of wisdom on earth, and it seemed important to me:

JPS Tanakh 1917
This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

Literal Standard Version
This also I have seen: wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me.

Majority Standard Bible
I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:

New American Bible
On the other hand I saw this wise deed under the sun, which I thought magnificent.

NET Bible
This is what I also observed about wisdom on earth, and it is a great burden to me:

New Revised Standard Version
I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

New Heart English Bible
I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

Webster's Bible Translation
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed to me great:

World English Bible
I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.

Young's Literal Translation
This also I have seen: wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Wisdom is Better than Strength
13I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me: 14There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.…

Cross References
2 Samuel 20:22
Then the woman went to all the people with her wise counsel, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the ram's horn and his men dispersed from the city, each to his own home. And Joab returned to the king in Jerusalem.

Ecclesiastes 7:19
Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.

Ecclesiastes 9:12
For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.

Ecclesiastes 9:14
There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.


Treasury of Scripture

This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great to me:

Ecclesiastes 9:13
This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

Ecclesiastes 6:1
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

Ecclesiastes 7:15
All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.

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Example Great Greatly Impressed Seemed Sun Way Wisdom Wise
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Example Great Greatly Impressed Seemed Sun Way Wisdom Wise
Ecclesiastes 9
1. like things happen to good and bad
4. there is a necessity of death unto men
7. Comfort is all their portion in this life
11. God's providence rules over all
13. wisdom is better than strength














Verses 13-16. - Section 9. That wisdom, even when it does good service, is not always rewarded, is shown by an example. Verse 13. - This wisdom have I seen also under the sun; better, as the Septuagint, This also I saw to be wisdom under the sun. The experience which follows he recognized as an instance of worldly wisdom. To what special event he alludes is quite unknown. Probably the circumstance was familiar to his contemporaries. It is not to be considered as an allegory, though of course it is capable of spiritual application. The event in Bible history most like it is the preservation of Abel-Beth-maachah by the counsel of the wise woman (whose name is forgotten) narrated in 2 Samuel 20:15-22. And it seemed great unto me; Septuagint, Καὶ μεγάλη ἐστι πρὸς μέ, "And it is great before me." To my mind it appeared an important example (comp. Esther 10:3). Some critics who contend for the Solomonic authorship of our book, see here an allegorical reference to the foreseen revolt of Jeroboam, whose insurrection had been opposed by certain wise statesmen, but had been carried out in opposition to their counsel. Wordsworth considers that the apologue may be illustrated by the history of Jerusalem, when great powers were arrayed against it in the time of Isaiah, and the prophet by his prayers and exhortations delivered it (2 Kings 19:2, 6, 20), but was wholly disregarded afterwards, nay, was put to death by the son of the king whom he saved. But all this is nihil ad rem. As Plautus says, "Haec quidem deliramenta loquitur."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
I have also seen
רָאִ֥יתִי (rā·’î·ṯî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7200: To see

this
זֹ֛ה (zōh)
Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2090: This, that

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

under
תַּ֣חַת (ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

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

and it
הִ֖יא (hî)
Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

[was] great
וּגְדוֹלָ֥ה (ū·ḡə·ḏō·w·lāh)
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

to me:
אֵלָֽי׃ (’ê·lāy)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 9:13 I have also seen wisdom under (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 9:12
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