Ecclesiastes 6:8

What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

In Context

7All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.

9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 6

Cross References

Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

Psalms 116:9I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

Ecclesiastes 2:14The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 6:8-11

The Insatiableness of Desire. 7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. The preacher here further shows the vanity and folly of… Read the whole commentary →

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