Ecclesiastes 9:13-16 · Bible study
Ecclesiastes 9:13-16 Commentary: The Wisdom That Saves and Is Scorned
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
A poor wise man saves a city but is forgotten. The Preacher calls this wisdom great, yet it goes unrecognized. What is he teaching us?
Research Summary
- Meaning: The Preacher highlights a case where wisdom delivers a city, yet the wise poor man is forgotten, illustrating both the value of wisdom and the vanity of expecting recognition.
- Key words: poor wise man (miskēn chākām); wisdom (chokhmah); remembered (zākar); despised (bāzāh).
- Main debate: Whether the story is a historical event (possibly Dora or Athens), a parable without factual basis, or an allegory (for Christ, the human body, etc.).
- Theological theme: Wisdom is intrinsically superior to strength, but its value does not depend on human acknowledgment; God sees what people overlook.
- Best use: Encouraging those whose service goes unnoticed, and challenging congregations to honor wisdom regardless of the messenger's status.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
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.
15Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he saved the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.
16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
13I have also seen wisdom under the sun in this way, and it seemed great to me.
14There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
15Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
16Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
KJV King James Version 1769
13This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
14There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
15Now 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.
16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
13I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me:
14There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
15Now 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.
16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
13This also I have seen: wisdom under the sun, and it is great to me.
14A little city, and few men in it, and a great king hath come unto it, and hath surrounded it, and hath built against it great bulwarks;
15and there hath been found in it a poor wise man, and he hath delivered the city by his wisdom, and men have not remembered that poor man!
16And I said, `Better is wisdom than might, and the wisdom of the poor is despised, and his words are not heard.' --
Darby Darby Bible 1890
13This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it was great unto me.
14There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and encompassed it, and built great bulwarks against it:
15and there was found in it a poor wise man, who by his wisdom delivered the city; but no man remembered that poor man.
16Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength; but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
13This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to me to be very great:
14A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege was perfect.
15Now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man afterward remembered that poor man.
16And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the wisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard?
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Ecclesiastes 9:13
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that the story in these verses, a little city besieged by a great king, delivered by a poor wise man who is then forgotten, illustrates the paradox of wisdom under the sun. Barnes calls it 'a parable probably without foundation in fact,' while Keil and Delitzsch see the great king as probably an Asiatic monarch. Matthew Henry notes that the poor wise man served out of pure affection for his country, not for reward. The core point is agreed: wisdom is better than strength, but the world often ignores it when it comes from a humble source. The Preacher praises this wisdom as great precisely because it does not depend on recognition; it is valuable in itself.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Historical event: Specific identifications with sieges of Athens (480 BC) or Dora (218 BC) are offered by Barnes and the Cambridge Bible, though without decisive evidence.
- Parable or fiction: Barnes and Clarke describe the story as 'a parable probably without foundation in fact,' intended to teach a moral lesson.
- Allegorical interpretation: The Targum allegorizes the elements (city = body, king = evil impulse); some Christian readers apply the poor wise man to Christ, based on parallels like Mark 6:2-3 (cited by Cambridge Bible).
What is clear: The Preacher affirms that wisdom is better than strength, yet the world often despises wisdom when it comes from a poor person — a tension that lies at the heart of the human condition under the sun.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Historicity of the story | The story illustrates a common pattern in human experience, wise deliverance followed by ingratitude. | Some commentators (Barnes, Cambridge) treat it as a parable or fiction; others (Gill, Matthew Henry) see it as likely historical, possibly referring to a known event. |
| Identity of the poor wise man | He represents a person of low social standing who uses wisdom effectively. | Jewish (Targum) and Christian traditions have allegorized him as Christ or the human body. Clarke warns against such spiritualization, while Matthew Henry applies it to any public-spirited person. |
| Whether wisdom is ultimately worth pursuing | The Preacher affirms wisdom is better than strength (v.16a) and values it highly. | Some see the passage as mostly pessimistic (wisdom gains no lasting reward), while others emphasize that wisdom is still praiseworthy despite ingratitude (Lange, Matthew Henry). |
| The 'great king' as a specific figure | The king represents an overwhelming worldly power. | Barnes and Keil mention possible specific identifications (e.g., Xerxes against Athens, Antiochus against Dora), but the text does not require one. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The phrase under the sun connects this passage to the wider context of Ecclesiastes, where life's uncertainty and vanity are constant themes. In the ancient Near East, small cities with few defenders were vulnerable to imperial sieges. The 'great king' likely refers to an Assyrian, Babylonian, or Persian monarch, titles used by rulers such as Nebuchadnezzar or Artaxerxes, who could mobilize overwhelming force. Siege works (great bulwarks) were standard military practice, as seen in 2 Kings 6:24 where Benhadad besieges Samaria.
The Preacher's hearers would recognize a pattern like the wise woman of Abel in 2 Samuel 20:15-22, who saved her city through counsel. Here, the deliverer is a poor man, a social position that made his wisdom even more unlikely to be noticed afterward. The story likely reflects a well-known event or a conventional tale. Barnes and the Cambridge Bible suggest possible identifications with Athens (delivered by Themistocles, 480 BC) or the city of Dora (besieged by Antiochus the Great, 218 BC). But the text deliberately leaves details vague so the reader focuses on the irony: a city saved by wisdom, then forgetting its benefactor.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this passage. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts.
Reception History
Early Jewish interpretation, as seen in the Targum, read the passage allegorically: the little city is the human body, the few men are good affections, the great king is evil inclination, and the poor wise man is the righteous impulse. Christian interpreters have sometimes seen the poor wise man as a type of Christ, who saves through wisdom but is rejected by the world. Adam Clarke strongly cautioned against this spiritualization, calling it an abuse of the text. Later Reformed commentators (Matthew Henry, Wesley) took the story more literally, using it to teach the value of wisdom even when it goes unrewarded. The passage has been cited in sermons on ingratitude and on the hidden nature of true service.
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- The Crisis: A small city, few defenders, a great king with siege works (v.14). The odds are hopeless by human strength.
- The Deliverance: A poor wise man found in the city, not a general or a wealthy patron, and he saves the city through his wisdom (v.15).
- The Irony: No one remembers that same poor man (v.15). The Preacher then states the principle: wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words not heard (v.16).
Five-Point Outline
- Observation: the Preacher sees this wisdom and it seems great to him (v.13).
- The setting: a little city with few men, under attack (v.14).
- The agent: a poor wise man is found, and he delivers the city (v.15a).
- The outcome: the city is saved, but the man is forgotten (v.15b).
- The lesson: wisdom is better than strength, yet the poor man’s wisdom is disrespected (v.16).
Illustration Hooks
- A church volunteer who quietly handles a crisis (a burst pipe, a family in need) but is never thanked, while the visible leaders get praise.
- The inventor of a life-saving device whose name is lost, while the company that marketed it becomes famous.
- A child who gives a simple insight that solves a family conflict, but the adults later credit themselves.
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- If wisdom is so valuable, why does God let it go unrecognized?
- How do I stay motivated to serve when no one notices?
- What does this story say about the way our culture honors people?
Leading a Discussion
The Preacher tells a short story that feels like a fable. It ends with a sharp twist: the hero is forgotten. This passage invites us to think about what we value and why.
Discussion Questions
- What do you notice about the city and its situation in verse 14? What emotions does it stir?
- How does the description of the wise man, poor, found in the city, affect the way you hear the story?
- Why do you think the Preacher says this wisdom 'seemed great' to him (v.13), given the outcome?
- What does the city's ingratitude reveal about human nature, according to this passage?
- How does verse 16 connect to the earlier observation in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that 'the race is not to the swift'?
- In what situations today do we ignore wisdom because it comes from someone of low status?
- How can we guard against being people who forget the contributions of the humble?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Ecclesiastes 6:1 | There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men: |
| Ecclesiastes 7:15 | All this I have seen in my days of vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in his evildoing. |
| Ecclesiastes 8:16 | When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done on the earth (even though eyes see no sleep day or night), |
| Ecclesiastes 9:11 | I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. |
| II Samuel 20:15 | They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall to throw it down. |
| II Samuel 20:22 | Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. |
| II Kings 6:24 | After this, Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. |
| II Kings 7:20 | It happened like that to him, for the people trampled over him in the gate, and he died. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that some people wrongly apply this passage to Jesus Christ and other religious ideas. He also says that others interpret it as describing the human body and its struggles.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes sees wisdom as the best defense against life’s emptiness. He believes the stories about a saved city later forgetting its savior are fables with no real history.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that the story about a city under siege shows wisdom saving it through skill even when no one thanks it. It also points out that wisdom is better than strength yet often goes unnoticed while wealth wins out.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Geneva Bible Notes sees wisdom as more valuable than force even when it saves a city. The poor wise man’s knowledge brings rescue yet is ignored and unappreciated.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that a poor wise man saved a besieged city with his counsel even though no one remembered him after the task was done. He also says wisdom in a humble person is better than the strength
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes that the poor man’s wisdom is despised by the world. This applies to all poor people in general rather than just the one who tried to save the city.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch argue that the great king, not just anyone, is the one who finds the poor wise man in the besieged city, meeting his match. They stress that though wisdom surpasses strength, people despise it when it comes from a poor man, whose words go unheard.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange notes that the wise man still declares wisdom better than strength even though poor people’s wisdom is dismissed. He explains this statement refers to the fact that no one at first recognized the
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry sees true wisdom as a selfless act that helps others without seeking reward. He believes this kind of wisdom is greater than power weapons and brings lasting peace.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that wisdom often fails to bring true happiness without God’s help. He also says that even those who do much good will eventually be forgotten.