Ecclesiastes 7:11
9 Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
13 Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
- KJV
- Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.
- WEB
- Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
- ASV
- Wisdom is as good as an inheritance; yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.
- DARBY
- Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, and profitable to them that see the sun.
- BLB
- Wisdom [is] good, with an inheritance, and profitable for those seeing the sun.
- ÅB
- Visdom er jevngod med arvegods, ja enda ypperligere for dem som ser solen;
- OTB
- Visdom, som en arv, er en god ting og en fordel for dem som ser solen.
- B1930
- Visdom er jevngod med arvegods, ja ennu ypperligere for dem som ser solen;
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ecclesiastes 11:7
Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.
Read in context1 Timothy 6:17–19
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 to enjoy.
Read in contextProverbs 8:10–11
Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 2:13
And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
Read in contextEcclesiastes 9:15–18
Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
Read in contextLuke 16:8–9
The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.
Read in context1 Kings 3:6–9
Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
Read in context