Ecclesiastes 7:12 - Exposition

For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense ; literally, in the shade is wisdom , in the shade is money ; Septuagint, ὅτι ἐν σκιᾷ αὐτῆς ἡ σοφία ὡς σκιὰ ἀργυρίου , "For in its shadow wisdom is as the shadow of money." Symmachus has, σκέπει σοφία ὡς σκέπει τὸ ἀργύριον , "Wisdom shelters as money shelters." The Vulgate explains the obscure text by paraphrasing, Sieur enirn protegit sapientia, sic protegit petunia . Shadow, in Oriental phrase, is equivalent to protection (see Numbers 14:9 ; Psalms 17:5 ; Lamentations 4:20 ). Wisdom as well as money is a shield and defense to men. As it is said in one passage ( Proverbs 13:8 ) that riches are the ransom of a man's life, so in another ( Ecclesiastes 9:15 ) we are told how wisdom delivered a city from destruction. The literal translation given above implies that he who has wisdom and he who has money rest under a safe protection, are secure from material evil. In this respect they are alike, and have analogous claims to man's regard. But the excellency —profit, or advantage— of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it . "Knowledge" ( daath ) and "wisdom" ( chokmah ) are practically here identical, the terms being varied for the sake of poetic parallelism. The Revised Version, following Delitzsch and others, renders, Wisdom preserveth the life of him that hath it ; i . e . secures him from passions and excesses which tend to shorten life. This seems to be scarcely an adequate ground for the noteworthy advantage which wisdom is said to possess. The Septuagint gives, καὶ περίσσεια γνώσεως τῆς σοφίας ζωοποιήσει τόν παρ αὐτῆς "And the excellence of the knowledge of wisdom will quicken him that hath it." Something more than the mere animal life is signified, a climax to the "defense" mentioned in the preceding clause—the higher, spiritual life which man has from God. Wisdom in the highest sense, that is, practical piety and religion, is "a tree of life to them that lay hold of her, and happy is every one that retaineth her" ( Proverbs 3:18 ), where it is implied that wisdom restores to man the gift which he lost at the Fall (camp. also Proverbs 8:35 ). The Septuagint expression ζωοποιήσει recalls the words of Christ, "As the Father raiseth the dead and quickeneth ( ζωοποιεῖ ) them, even so the Son also quickeneth whom he will;" "It is the Spirit that quickeneth ( τὸ ζωοποιοῦν )" ( John 5:21 ; John 6:63 ). Koheleth attributes that power to wisdom which the more definite teaching of Christianity assigns to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Some would explain, "fortifies or vivifies the heart," i . e . imparts new life and strength to meet every fortune. The Vulgate rendering is far astray from the text, and does not accurately convey the sense of the passage, running thus: Hoe autem plus habet eruditio et sapientia: quod vitam tribuunt possessori sue , "But this more have learning and wisdom, that they give life to the possessor of them."