Ecclesiastes 7:11 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Wisdom is good with an inheritance’ or as it can be rendered, ‘Wisdom, as well as an inheritance, are good’. This translation fits better with verse 12 which gives a reason for verse 11 being true, and which contains a straight comparison between wisdom and money, and says nothing about how one improves the other. Both wisdom and an inheritance bring an advantage, but while they have interesting similarities, there are also vast differences between them. Yes, an inheritance greatly alters our present circumstances, but while an inheritance brings an advantage in this life, it can do nothing for us in the afterlife. Wisdom, on the other hand, is profitable whether we have riches or poverty, and in the world to come it brings everlasting life. Of course, this is not true of mere human wisdom, but it is wonderfully true of the wisdom that comes from above and which, ultimately, we obtain from Jesus Christ. This verse reinforces what had been said before, that men should not rely on life and its circumstances, but they should realise that happiness is much more dependent on the sort of people they are, and that for life to be profitable they must turn to God. Solomon proposes two alternatives shelters from the storms of life – money and wisdom. These summarise the two things which men put their trust in; they trust in mammon, wealth, or they trust in God. Both of them are relied on to deliver from trouble, but in fact they are not worthy to put alongside each other as the Psalmist warns, ‘They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves and the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him (for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceases for ever)’ (Psalm 49:6-8). The person who trusts in wealth finds that its usefulness is limited, but the one who trusts in God has found a deliverer from every calamity that his soul could meet. When Solomon presents wisdom as having this one advantage, he means that it has every advantage, for what does money give if it does not give life? Without giving this, it is a worthless defence. It is as if he is trying to show the foolishness of even comparing these two things and pretends the difference is small when he knows it is obvious that it is beyond calculation.