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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

Ecclesiastes 7:11

Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Riches;   Wisdom;   The Topic Concordance - Goodness;   Profit;   Wisdom;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Wisdom literature;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Poetry;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Abba Saḳḳara;   Bar Ḳappara;   Ben-Baṭiaḥ;   Ben Kalba Sabbua';   Beruriah;   ḥuppah;   Judah I.;   Serah;   Sheshet;   Tarsus;   Zealots;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for September 3;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Wisdom is as good as an inheritanceand an advantage to those who see the sun,
Hebrew Names Version
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
King James Version
Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.
English Standard Version
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.
New American Standard Bible
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good, And an advantage to those who see the sun.
New Century Version
Wisdom is better when it comes with money. They both help those who are alive.
Amplified Bible
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an [excellent] advantage for those who see the sun.
World English Bible
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Wisedome is good with an inheritance, and excellent to them that see the sunne.
Legacy Standard Bible
Wisdom along with an inheritance is goodAnd an advantage to those who see the sun.
Berean Standard Bible
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
Contemporary English Version
Having wisdom is better than an inheritance.
Complete Jewish Bible
Wisdom is good, along with possessions, an advantage to all who see the sun.
Darby Translation
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, and profitable to them that see the sun.
Easy-to-Read Version
Wisdom is better if you also have property. Wise people will get more than enough wealth.
George Lamsa Translation
Wisdom is better than weapons; yea, it is better for those who see the light of the truth.
Lexham English Bible
Wisdom is good with an inheritance; it benefits the living.
Literal Translation
Wisdom is good with an inheritance; yea, a gain to those who see the sun.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Wy?dome is better then riches, yee moch more worth then the eye sight.
American Standard Version
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance; yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.
Bible in Basic English
Wisdom together with a heritage is good, and a profit to those who see the sun.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, yea, a profit to them that see the sun.
King James Version (1611)
Wisedome is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profite to them that see the sunne.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Wysdome with inheritaunce is good, yet better is it with them that without care may beholde the sunne:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Say not, What has happened, that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire in wisdom concerning this.
English Revised Version
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance: yea, more excellent is it for them that see the sun.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe wisdom with richessis is more profitable, and profitith more to men seynge the sunne.
Update Bible Version
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance; yes, more excellent is it for those that see the sun.
Webster's Bible Translation
Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance: and [by it there is] profit to them that see the sun.
New English Translation
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing; it benefits those who see the light of day.
New King James Version
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, And profitable to those who see the sun.
New Living Translation
Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life.
New Life Bible
Wisdom with a gift passed down from father to son is good and a help to those who see the sun.
New Revised Standard
Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Good is wisdom, with an inheritance, - and a profit, to such as see the sun.
Douay-Rheims Bible
(7-12) Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun.
Revised Standard Version
Wisdom is good with an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun.
Young's Literal Translation
Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance, And an advantage [it is] to those beholding the sun.
THE MESSAGE
Wisdom is better when it's paired with money, Especially if you get both while you're still living. Double protection: wisdom and wealth! Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Wisdom along with an inheritance is good And an advantage to those who see the sun.

Contextual Overview

11 Everyone who lives ought to be wise; it is as good as receiving an inheritance 12 and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe—this is the advantage of knowledge. 13 Think about what God has done. How can anyone straighten out what God has made crooked? 14 When things are going well for you, be glad, and when trouble comes, just remember: God sends both happiness and trouble; you never know what is going to happen next. 15 My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. Some good people may die while others live on, even though they are evil. 16 So don't be too good or too wise—why kill yourself 17 But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either—why die before you have to? 18 Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway. 19 Wisdom does more for a person than ten rulers can do for a city. 20 There is no one on earth who does what is right all the time and never makes a mistake.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

good with an inheritance: or, as good as an inheritance, yea, better too. Ecclesiastes 9:15-18, 1 Kings 3:6-9, Luke 16:8, Luke 16:9, 1 Timothy 6:17-19

them: Ecclesiastes 11:7

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 3:9 - to judge Job 22:2 - as he that Proverbs 8:10 - General Proverbs 14:24 - crown Proverbs 21:20 - treasure Ecclesiastes 1:3 - under Ecclesiastes 2:13 - I saw Ecclesiastes 10:19 - but

Cross-References

Genesis 6:17
I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living being. Everything on the earth will die,
Genesis 7:5
And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded.
Genesis 7:6
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came on the earth.
Genesis 7:8
A male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, whether ritually clean or unclean,
Genesis 7:11
When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened,
Genesis 7:23
The Lord destroyed all living beings on the earth—human beings, animals, and birds. The only ones left were Noah and those who were with him in the boat.
Genesis 7:24
The water did not start going down for a hundred and fifty days.
2 Kings 7:2
The personal attendant of the king said to Elisha, "That can't happen—not even if the Lord himself were to send grain at once!" "You will see it happen, but you won't get to eat any of the food," Elisha replied.
2 Kings 7:19
to which the officer had answered, "That can't happen—not even if the Lord himself were to send grain at once!" And Elisha had replied, "You will see it happen, but you won't get to eat any of the food."
Job 28:4
Far from where anyone lives Or human feet ever travel, They dig the shafts of mines. There they work in loneliness, Clinging to ropes in the pits.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wisdom [is] good with an inheritance,.... It is good of itself. Or, "is as good as an inheritance" n, as it may be rendered; it is a portion of itself, especially spiritual and divine wisdom. The Targum interprets it, the wisdom of the law, or the knowledge of that; but much more excellent is the wisdom of the Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom; the knowledge of which, in an experimental way, is preferable to all earthly inheritances: but this with an inheritance is good, yea, better than without one; for wisdom, without riches, is generally overlooked and despised in men; see Ecclesiastes 9:16; when wealth, with wisdom, makes a man regarded; this commands respect and attention; as well as he is in a better condition to do good, if willing to share, and ready to distribute;

and [by it there is] profit to them that see the sun; mortals in this present state, who are described as such that see the sun rise and set, and enjoy the heat and light of it, receive much advantage from men who are both wise and rich: or, "and [it is] an excellency to them that see the sun"; it is an excellency to mortals and what gives them superiority to others, that they have both wisdom and riches.

n עם נחלה "aeque ac haereditas", Gejerus, Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And by it there is profit ... - literally, And is profitable to the living. The same word as in Ecclesiastes 6:11, to the question in which it looks like an answer.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 7:11. Wisdom is good with an inheritance — In this chapter Solomon introduces many observations which appear to be made by objectors against his doctrine; and as he was satisfied of their futility, he proposes them in their own full strength, and then combats and destroys them. It is quite necessary to attend to this; else we shall take the objector's words for those of Solomon; and think, as some have done, that the wise man contradicts and refutes himself. Observations, reflections, and objections of friends and adversaries are frequently introduced in the works of ancient authors, without mentioning them as such. This is frequent, more particularly in ethic writers; and we have many specimens in Horace; and without this distinction, it would be impossible to make sense of some of his writings. Here, an objector, who had listened to the wise man declaiming in favour of wisdom, suddenly interrupts him, and says in effect, "I grant the truth of what you have said. Wisdom is very good in its place; but what is it without property? A man who has a good inheritance may be profited by wisdom, because it will show him how to manage it to the best advantage."


 
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