Ecclesiastes 7:19

Ecc 7:19 Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty [men] which are in the city.

Ver. 19. Wisdom strengtheneth the wise, &c.] Prudence excelleth puissance, and counsel valour. This made Agamemnon set such a price upon Ulysses; Darius, upon Zopyrus; the Syracusans, upon Archimedes; the Spartans, upon Leonidas, who, with six hundred men, dispersed five hundred thousand of Xerxes his host. {a} Those that are wise to salvation go ever under a double guard; the peace of God within them, the power of God without them. No sultan of Babylon or Egypt (who have that title from the Hebrew word here rendered mighty men) did ever go so well guarded. {See Trapp on "Pro 21:22"}

{a} Justin., lib. ii.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:19 One wise person: E.g., see 9:14-15; 2 Sam 20:15-22.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Tarry not long when thou art admonished to come out of the way of wickedness.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Hebrew, "The wisdom," that is, the true wisdom, religion (Ti2 3:15).

than ten mighty--that is, able and valiant generals (Ecc 7:12; Ecc 9:13-18; Pro 21:22; Pro 24:5). These "watchmen wake in vain, except the Lord keep the city" (Psa 127:1).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. Wisdom strengtheneth the wise] One wise, thoroughly learned, and scientific man, may be of more use in fortifying and defending a city, than ten princes. Witness the case of Syracuse, when attacked by the Romans both by sea and land. Archimedes, by his engines, burnt and dashed their fleet to pieces, and destroyed all that came near the walls. And had not the city been betrayed, and he killed, all their force and skill could not have taken it.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) Mighty men.—The word is translated “governor” Gen_42:6, and so see Ecc_10:5; see also Ecc_8:8. The preacher returns to the topic of Ecc_7:12. Of the “For” in the next verse, only forced explanations have been given; the sentiment is Solomon’s (1Ki_8:46).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. Wisdom strengtheneth the wise] The fact that the Debater had not forgotten that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Pro_1:7; Psa_111:10; Job_28:21) serves as the connecting link between this and the preceding verse. The “ten mighty men” stand as a vague number, certus pro incerto (comp. Gen_31:7; Num_14:22), and it is a fantastic line of interpretation to connect them with any definite political organization, Assyrian viceroys, Persian vice-satraps, Roman decurions, or the like. It is, however, an interesting coincidence, pointed out by Mr Tyler, that a city was defined by the Mishna (Megila i. 3) to be a town in which there were ten Batlanim, or men of leisure, to constitute a synagogue. A striking parallel is found in Sir_37:14, “A man’s mind is wont to tell him more than seven men that sit upon a tower.” What is meant is generally that the wisdom that fears God is better than mere force, that moral strength is in the long run mightier than material. Wise statesmen may do more than generals.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wisdom strengtheneth the wise,.... Against such extremes as before mentioned; it is a guard about him, as well as a guide unto him; it is a defence unto him, as before observed, Ecc 7:12; and is better than strength of body, or weapons of war, Ecc 9:16; and a wise man does greater things by it than a strong man with them, and is safer with it than he can be by them. Some understand this of Christ, the Wisdom of God, without whom a good man can do nothing, but all things through him strengthening him; and who being a strong tower and place of refuge to him, he is safer in him than if he was in the strongest garrison, and under the protection of ever so large a number of valiant men: Christ, and grace from him, strengthen

more than ten mighty men which are in the city; that is, than many mighty men, or men of war, which guard a city; the city of Jerusalem, or any other. The Targum applies this to Joseph, and paraphrases it,

"the wisdom of Joseph the son of Jacob helped him to make him wiser than all his ten righteous brethren.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

From him. Who is otherwise withdrawn, &c. Hebrew, "take hold of this, and not neglect that: for he who feareth God, will walk with all them." He will avoid all extremes both of virtue and vice. (Calmet) --- Protestants and Montanus, "he shall come forth of them all," and advance towards heaven. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Wisdom; true wisdom, which is always joined with the fear of God, and which teacheth a man to keep close to the rule of his duty, without turning either to the right hand or to the left.

Strengtheneth the wise; supporteth him in and secureth him against troubles and dangers.

Ten, i.e. many, uniting the forces together.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. This and the following verses refer to the imperfectness of the examples of great men.

Wisdom strengtheneth — Living, acting discretion is a better source of strength than the example of many great men who have given honour to the State: for the conditions which surrounded them are not exactly the same as those around us, and we shall also be in danger of reproducing their errors. The next verse tells us why we should not blindly follow even the best examples.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wisdom strengtheneth the wise. The moderation enjoined is the only true wisdom, which, indeed, is the most powerful incentive and support. "Wisdom proves itself stronger" (as the verb is put intransitively) to the wise man." Septuagint, bohqhsei," will help;" Vulgate, confortuvit, "hath strengthened." The spiritual and moral force of the wisdom grounded upon the fear of God is here signified, and is all the more insisted upon to counteract any erroneous impression conveyed by the caution against over-wisdom in ver. 16 (see note on ver. 17, at the end). More than ten mighty men which are in the city. The number ten indicates completeness, containing in it self the whole arithmetical system, and used representatively for an indefinite multitude. Thus Job (Job_19:3) complains that his friends have reproached him ten times, and Elkanah asks his murmuring wife, "Am I not better to thee than ten sons?". (1Sa_1:8) Delitzsch thinks that some definite political arrangement is referred to, e.g. the dynasties placed by Persian kings over conquered countries; and Tyler notes that in the Mishna a city is defined to be a place containing ten men of leisure; and we know that ten men were required for the establishment of a synagogue in any locality. The same idea was present in the Angle-Saxon arrangement of tything and hundred . The number, however, is probably used indefi nitely here as seven in the parallel passage of Ecclesiasticus (37:14), A man"s mind is sometime wont to tell him more than seven watchmen that sit above in a high tower." The sentence may be compared with Pro_10:15 Pro_21:22 Pro_24:5. The word rendered "mighty men" (shallitim) is not necessarily a military designation; it is translated "ruler" in Ecc_10:5, and "governor" inzontav Gen_42:6. The Septuagint here has jExousia toulei; the Vulgate, principes civitatis. The persons intended are not primarily men of valor in war, like David"s heroes, but rulers of sagacity, prudent statesmen, whose moral force is far greater and more efficacious than any merely physical excellence. (comp. Ecc_9:16)

Vers. 19-22.

The dangers and defenses of a city.

I A CITY"S DANGERS.

1. Either external or internal. Either attacking it from without or assailing it from within.

2. Either personal or impersonal. Arising from individuals, as e.g. from embattled hosts marching against the city, or from designing traitors proving unfaithful to the city; or proceeding from material causes, as e.g. from such physical conditions and surroundings as endanger the city"s safety or the health of its inhabitants.

3. Either temporal or spiritual. Such as threaten its prosperity in trade and commerce, or such as menace its civil order, social well-being, and political stability.

4. Either few or many. Either one or two of the above-named perils happening at one time, or all of them together confronting the city.

II A CITY"S DEFENSES.

1. The prowess of its soldiers. The ten mighty men or rulers may be regarded as chiefs or generals (sallith being probably equivalent to the Assyrian salat, which signifies a stadtholder or commander; Schrader, "Die Keilin-schriften und das Alte Testament," p. 588), or viewed as civil governors like the Roman decemvirs (see Adam"s "Roman Antiquities," p. 130), or perhaps taken simply as persons of wealth and influence, like the ten men of leisure whom the Mishna ("Megillah" 1:3) declares to have been necessary to constitute a great city with a synagogue. Either way, they may represent the first or outer line of defense to which a city usually resorts in times of danger, viz. that of physical force, expressed for the most part in armies and garrisons. The Preacher says not that such wall of defense is worthless, but merely that there are defenses better and more efficient than it. And though battalions and bullets, regiments and fleets, constitute not the highest instruments of safety to which a city or a nation can trust, yet they have their uses in averting, as well as their dangers in inviting, war. (Luk_11:21)

2. The wisdom of its rulers. These the wise men are now supposed to be; and the meaning is that a city"s safety depends more upon the mental sagacity of those who guide its affairs than upon the extent and depth of its material resources; that "wise statesmen," for instance, "may do more" for it "than able generals" (Plumptre), and skilful inventors than Herculean laborers; (cf. Ecc_9:16, Ecc_9:18) and if more upon the mental sagacity of its governors, much more upon their moral earnestness. The wisdom to which the Preacher alludes is unquestionably that which fears God, keeps his commandments, and gives life to all that have it. Hence even more indispensable for a city"s safety is it that her dignitaries should be good than that they should be great.

3. The piety of its people. This a legitimate deduction from the statement that "there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (ver. 20). In introducing this sentiment, suggested probably by the utterance of Solomon, (2Ki_8:4-6) the Preacher may have wished to call up the thought that once upon a time ten righteous men, could they only have been found (which they were not), would have saved a city, (Gen_18:32) and to point to the fact that no such expectation as that of saving a city by means of its righteous men need be cherished now as a reason for resorting to the next best defense that of moral wisdom instead of brute force. Yet the truth remains that righteousness, holiness, piety, could it only be attained, would be a far more endurable and impregnable wall of protection to a people than either mighty armies or wise statesmen.

LESSONS.

1. Righteousness or wisdom the highest civil good.

2. The permanence of a state determined by the number of its good men.

3. The power of moral goodness in both individuals and empires.

4. The universal corruption of mankind.

Vers. 19-22.

Wisdom a protection.

The connection between these words and those that precede them seems somewhat loose. But the Preacher has just been speaking of "the fear of God," and some one of those passages of Scripture, which assert that in it is true wisdom (Pro_1:7; Psa_111:10; Job_28:28) may have been in his mind. He now speaks of the protection and strength which wisdom gives, and of the sort of conduct becoming those who possess it (ver. 19). "Wisdom strengtheneth the wise man more than ten mighty men which are in the city." Why ten mighty men are spoken of is a question difficult to answer. It may be that "ten" is meant to suggest "a full number" (Gen_31:7; Job_19:3) or perhaps we have here an allusion tosome political or other arrangements of the time now unknown to us. But the evident meaning of the verse is that the wisdom that fears God is better than material force, that in it there is a ground of confidence better than weapons of war. (cf. Pro_24:5a, "A wise man is strong In the words that follow we have man"s fallibility strongly insisted on in words quoted from the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, (1Ki_8:46) "For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not," and the inference seems to be that "the wisest at times commit mistakes, but their wisdom enables them to get the better of their mistakes, and protects them against the evil consequences which happen in such cases to the unwise." This thought leads on to the teaching of vers. 21, 22. The wise man who remembers his own mistakes and offences will judge leniently of others, and not punish them as offenders for their occasional hasty words. Indifference to idle praise or idle blame becomes the possessor of true wisdom. For him, to use St. Paul"s words, "It is a very small thing to be judged of man"s judgment". (1Co_4:3) An idle curiosity to know what others think of us or say of us is the source of constant mortification. We expect praise, and forget that others are as frivolous and hasty in their criticism of us as we have been in our criticism of them. The servant who waits on us, and from whom we expect special reverence, would probably, if we could hear him without his knowledge, say much about us that would surprise and mortify us. Let us therefore not be too eager to hear our character analyzed and discussed. "Where ignorance is bliss, "Tis folly to be wise." Some excuse may be found for the motto of the old Scottish family which expresses this indifference to the opinion of others in the most pointed form: "They say. What say they? Let them say. J.W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Strengthen - Supports him in, and secures him against troubles and dangers.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

"Wisdom affords strong protection to the wise man more than ten mighty men who are in the city." We have to distinguish, as is shown under Psa 31:3, the verbs עזז, to be strong, and עוּז, to flee for refuge; תּעז is the fut. of the former, whence מעז, stronghold, safe retreat, protection, and with ל, since עזז means not only to be strong, but also to show oneself strong, as at Eccl 9:20, to feel and act as one strong; it has also the trans. meaning, to strengthen, as shown in Psa 68:29, but here the intrans. suffices: wisdom proves itself strong for the wise man. The ten shallithim are not, with Ginsburg, to be multiplied indefinitely into "many mighty men." And it is not necessary, with Desvoeux, Hitz., Zckl., and others, to think of ten chiefs (commanders of forces), including the portions of the city garrison which they commanded. The author probably in this refers to some definite political arrangement, perhaps to the ten archons, like those Assyrian salaṭ, vice-regents, after whom as eponyms the year was named by the Greeks. שׁלּיט, in the Asiatic kingdom, was not properly a military title. And did a town then need protection only in the time of war, and not also at other times, against injury threatening its trade, against encroachments on its order, against the spread of infectious diseases, against the force of the elements? As the Deutero-Isaiah (Isa 60:17) says of Jerusalem: "I will make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness," so Koheleth says here that wisdom affords a wise man as strong a protection as a powerful decemvirate a city; cf. Pro 24:5: "A wise man is ba'oz," i.e., mighty.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Wisdom is powerful in the wise man, more than ten rulers in a city

"Wisdom makes a man powerful; it makes him more powerful than ten rulers in a city"

does good and never sins

"does good things and does not sin"

translationWords

power

rule

earth

good

sin

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Wisdom affords strength to the wise Since he said: Be not overly wicked—if you have dealt wickedly in a small degree, do not add to it, but search your deeds and regret the sin—he says: Wisdom affords strength to the wise, for it counsels him to return in repentance.

more than ten rulers We find regarding Josiah, that Scripture testified about him (II Kings 23:25): “Now before him there was no king like him, etc.” Hence, his wisdom stood him in good stead, and he searched his deeds, and it was better for him than the ten kings who behaved wickedly and did not repent of their ways.

who were in the city in Jerusalem, viz. Rehoboam, Abijah, Ahaziah, Joash after the death of Jehoiada, Amaziah, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.