What Does Ecclesiastes 2:13 Mean in the King James?
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew repeats one word for both comparisons: wisdom’s advantage over folly is the same kind of advantage light has over darkness.
THE MEANING
Wisdom gives a real surplus over folly, just as light makes visible what darkness obscures. That difference is present now, even while folly and darkness remain.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wisdom and folly are interchangeable, with no meaningful difference between them.
THE ROOT
יִתְרוֹן
yitron
GROWS FROM
יתר
y-t-r
to remain, be left over; by extension, to exceed or be in surplus
“excelleth” in this verse is yitron. The Hebrew uses יִתְרוֹן (yitron, advantage or surplus) twice: once for wisdom over folly and again for light over darkness. The root’s sense of what remains or exceeds makes the comparison about what wisdom yields beyond folly, not just which sounds better.
ALSO GROWS
yeter: remainder, surplus
יֶתֶר
It shares the root’s sense of what is left over, illuminating the verse’s idea of wisdom’s added advantage.
yoter: more, beyond
יוֹתֵר
This related form makes the comparative force of wisdom’s advantage audible in the word family.
חָכְמָה
chokhmah
GROWS FROM
חכם
ḥ-k-m
to be wise or skillful
חָכְמָה (chokhmah, wisdom) can carry the sense of practical skill, not only stored knowledge. Here it names a capacity for discernment that makes a real difference, as light does against darkness.
ALSO GROWS
chākām: wise, skillful
חָכָם
This adjective shares the root and shows wisdom as a quality expressed in discernment and skill.
ḥakhamim: wise people, skilled ones
חֲכָמִים
The plural form carries wisdom into lived capacity, fitting the verse’s contrast between discernment and folly.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom’s advantage becomes visible by contrast, like light making clear what darkness obscures.
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.THE THREAD
For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.“Excellency” here is יִתְרוֹן (yitron, advantage), the same word rendered “excelleth” in Ecclesiastes 2:13. This verse names wisdom’s surplus more directly: it gives life to the one who has it.
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