Ecc 2:16 | KingComments | STEP | The Preacher then turns his attention again “to consider wisdom” (cf. ), but now to compare it with “madness and folly”, the counterparts of wisdom ( ). The reason for this comparison is the question that came to him as to what kind of man his successor would be. He has worked his way out to answer the question about the meaning of life. For this he created ‘great things’ for himself ( ). He can point to all these achievements. From this his successor can learn that the meaning of life is not in beautiful buildings and great wealth. When he takes this lesson to heart he shows that he has wisdom. The big question, however, is how his successor will proceed. He will be confronted with the same question about the meaning of life. Will he then examine everything again and proceed in the same way as he, the Preacher, did? That will not be true, will it? Perhaps his successor will not find the question interesting at all, with which he was so busy. It may even be so bad that ‘the man after him’ in madness and folly destroys everything the Preacher has built. The question of what his successor will do with what he has done, does not make him uncertain about the value of wisdom in relation to folly. His successor may be a fool who wants to re-invent the wheel because he does not want to learn anything from the Preacher’s wisdom, but it does not change the wisdom he himself has gained. Wisdom always excels folly. That wisdom has excellence over foolishness is a fact that every wise man will notice and confirm. In the same way, light excels darkness. Wisdom is preferable to folly because wisdom gives a certain amount of light in life on earth, while folly hides a person in darkness, so that he does not know where he is or where he is going. Some benefits of wisdom are mentioned later in this book, such as: wisdom gives success ( ), protects ( ), gives power ( ) and illumination ( ) and is better than strength ( ). One is really a fool if he ignores that, or even despises it, and prefers to walk in darkness. Wisdom has light ( ) and sight ( ). Every person has eyes in his head, but the wise man uses them. Because of this the wise man knows where he is walking and he sees where he is going. The fool “walks in darkness”, he is darkness and loves darkness ( ; ). This distinction is useful for life on earth. Yet this distinction has only a limited meaning. The advantage of the wise man is in the end not great, for he suffers the same fate as the fool. For example, the wise man may as well become ill, have an accident or suffer a loss as the fool. The “fate” is neutral, it has the general meaning of ‘something that happens’. It is an unplanned and unexpected event. This applies especially to death. It ‘befalls’ all people that they die. The inevitability of death makes wisdom seem meaningless, for death is the great “equalizer” (cf. ). In Ecclesiastes, death is not the transition to the hereafter, but its separation from the present and all the fruits it has sought to reap from its labor. When the Preacher realizes that the same fate as the fool befalls him, the question arises to him why he has been so extremely wise ( ). Why has he made so much effort, why was he so diligently seeking to become wise? After all, it does not matter in the end. It helps you a bit in your life, but worldly wisdom does not prevent you from encountering the same fate that strikes the fool who has lived without sacrificing himself for anything or even taking notice of anything. Then he can only conclude one thing and that is that natural wisdom in earthly life is “vanity”, empty, without any lasting result, too. In the Preacher motivates his remark of . It is clear that the remembrance of a wise man like that of a fool fades away over time. They do not remain in remembrance forever. Matters that are talked about a lot in one generation are no longer mentioned in the next. They are simply forgotten, it is as if they have never been there. New persons and new things call for attention and suppress the remembrance of the old persons and things. Thus the wise man and the fool disappear from remembrance. From the point of view of faith, there is a remembrance ( ; ; ). For the faith, there is also a difference in the death of the wise and the fool (cf. ). Considering all things, he can only hate life and all the work which has been done under the sun because he has not found in it the satisfaction he has expected to find in it. Therefore it seemed to him an evil work. He soon began to get tired of his beautiful houses and courts and waterworks. He has had enough of it. After a while he looks at it like children look at a toy they wanted, but after playing with it for a while they get tired of it and throw it away. The first pleasure is soon gone and then they want something else. It is a good thing to get to this point. We must first hate life before we find it ( ). Life on this side of death is not a beautiful life, it is not something to love at the expense of eternity ( ; ). We must take hold of the true life ( ). Life only acquires meaning when the Lord Jesus appears in it. He gives life in abundance ( ).

‏ Ecclesiastes 2:16

Wisdom Excels Folly, but Is Also Vanity

The Preacher then turns his attention again “to consider wisdom” (cf. Ecc 1:16-18), but now to compare it with “madness and folly”, the counterparts of wisdom (Ecc 2:12). The reason for this comparison is the question that came to him as to what kind of man his successor would be. He has worked his way out to answer the question about the meaning of life. For this he created ‘great things’ for himself (Ecc 2:4). He can point to all these achievements. From this his successor can learn that the meaning of life is not in beautiful buildings and great wealth. When he takes this lesson to heart he shows that he has wisdom.

The big question, however, is how his successor will proceed. He will be confronted with the same question about the meaning of life. Will he then examine everything again and proceed in the same way as he, the Preacher, did? That will not be true, will it? Perhaps his successor will not find the question interesting at all, with which he was so busy. It may even be so bad that ‘the man after him’ in madness and folly destroys everything the Preacher has built.

The question of what his successor will do with what he has done, does not make him uncertain about the value of wisdom in relation to folly. His successor may be a fool who wants to re-invent the wheel because he does not want to learn anything from the Preacher’s wisdom, but it does not change the wisdom he himself has gained.

Wisdom always excels folly. That wisdom has excellence over foolishness is a fact that every wise man will notice and confirm. In the same way, light excels darkness. Wisdom is preferable to folly because wisdom gives a certain amount of light in life on earth, while folly hides a person in darkness, so that he does not know where he is or where he is going.

Some benefits of wisdom are mentioned later in this book, such as: wisdom gives success (Ecc 10:10), protects (Ecc 7:12), gives power (Ecc 7:19) and illumination (Ecc 8:1) and is better than strength (Ecc 9:16). One is really a fool if he ignores that, or even despises it, and prefers to walk in darkness.

Wisdom has light (Ecc 2:13) and sight (Ecc 2:14). Every person has eyes in his head, but the wise man uses them. Because of this the wise man knows where he is walking and he sees where he is going. The fool “walks in darkness”, he is darkness and loves darkness (Eph 5:8; Jn 3:19). This distinction is useful for life on earth.

Yet this distinction has only a limited meaning. The advantage of the wise man is in the end not great, for he suffers the same fate as the fool. For example, the wise man may as well become ill, have an accident or suffer a loss as the fool. The “fate” is neutral, it has the general meaning of ‘something that happens’. It is an unplanned and unexpected event. This applies especially to death. It ‘befalls’ all people that they die.

The inevitability of death makes wisdom seem meaningless, for death is the great “equalizer” (cf. Psa 49:10). In Ecclesiastes, death is not the transition to the hereafter, but its separation from the present and all the fruits it has sought to reap from its labor.

When the Preacher realizes that the same fate as the fool befalls him, the question arises to him why he has been so extremely wise (Ecc 2:15). Why has he made so much effort, why was he so diligently seeking to become wise? After all, it does not matter in the end. It helps you a bit in your life, but worldly wisdom does not prevent you from encountering the same fate that strikes the fool who has lived without sacrificing himself for anything or even taking notice of anything. Then he can only conclude one thing and that is that natural wisdom in earthly life is “vanity”, empty, without any lasting result, too.

In Ecc 2:16 the Preacher motivates his remark of Ecc 2:15. It is clear that the remembrance of a wise man like that of a fool fades away over time. They do not remain in remembrance forever. Matters that are talked about a lot in one generation are no longer mentioned in the next. They are simply forgotten, it is as if they have never been there. New persons and new things call for attention and suppress the remembrance of the old persons and things. Thus the wise man and the fool disappear from remembrance.

From the point of view of faith, there is a remembrance (Pro 10:7; Psa 112:6; 1Cor 11:24-25). For the faith, there is also a difference in the death of the wise and the fool (cf. Gen 18:23).

Considering all things, he can only hate life and all the work which has been done under the sun because he has not found in it the satisfaction he has expected to find in it. Therefore it seemed to him an evil work. He soon began to get tired of his beautiful houses and courts and waterworks. He has had enough of it. After a while he looks at it like children look at a toy they wanted, but after playing with it for a while they get tired of it and throw it away. The first pleasure is soon gone and then they want something else.

It is a good thing to get to this point. We must first hate life before we find it (Jn 12:25). Life on this side of death is not a beautiful life, it is not something to love at the expense of eternity (1Cor 15:19; Rev 12:11). We must take hold of the true life (1Tim 6:12). Life only acquires meaning when the Lord Jesus appears in it. He gives life in abundance (Jn 10:10).