Ecclesiastes 2:13–14
The NET BibleOther versions
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2:13I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly,58
just as light is preferable to darkness:
2:14The wise man can see where he is going,59 but the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I also realized that the same fate60 happens to them both.61
Footnotes
- 58 Heb “and I saw that there is profit for wisdom more than folly.”
- 59 Heb “has his eyes in his head.” The term עַיִן (’ayin, “eye”) is used figuratively in reference to mental and spiritual faculties ( 744 עַיִן 3.a). The term “eye” is a metonymy of cause (eye) for effect (sight and perception).
- 60 The common fate to which Qoheleth refers is death.
- 61 The term כֻּלָּם (kullam, “all of them”) denotes “both of them.” This is an example of synecdoche of general (“all of them”) for the specific (“both of them,” that is, both the wise man and the fool).
The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press
In other versions
ESVEnglish Standard Version
Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles
NIVNew International Version (2011)
I saw that wisdom is better than folly,
just as light is better than darkness.
The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.
CSBChristian Standard Bible
And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.
The wise person has eyes in his head,
but the fool walks in darkness.
Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.
Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
NLTNew Living Translation
I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
LEBThe Lexham English Bible
I realized that wisdom has an advantage over folly, just as light has an advantage over darkness. The wise man can see where he is walking, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.
Copyright 2012 Lexham Press
KJV 1900King James Version
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
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