A Parable -- The Wisdom of a Poor Man is Despised

INTRODUCTION

The book of Ecclesiastes uses a combination of proverbs and parables (both called lvm in biblical Hebrew) to present its argument.  The following parable presents the argument that wisdom (practical skill in living) may be more powerful that force of arms, but the advantage to the individual depends on his status in his society.

THE PARABLE (Ecc 9:13-16)

.yl;ae ayhi hl;/dg]W vm,V;h' tj'T' hm;k]j; ytiyair: hz,AμG' 13

Also this ­ I considered wisdom under the sun, and it was significant to me.

ytiyair: hz,AμG'  This expression links back to verse 9:11 as a second example of how people may not get the result that their actions or their personal merit deserve.

yl;ae ayhi hl;/dg]W     Literally: It was big to me.   The adjective could describe something that is physically big or something of great significance.

l/dG; Ël,m, h;yl,aeAab;W f[;m] HB; μyvin:a}w" hN;f'q] ry[i 14

.μylidoG] μyd“/xm] h;yl,[; hn;b;W Ht;ao bb's;w“

There was a small city with few men in it; but a great king came to it, surrounded it, and built a great siege works against it.

/tm;k]j;B] ry[ih;Ata, aWhAfL'miW μk;j; ˆKes]mi vyai Hb; ax;m;W 15

.aWhh' ˆKes]Mih' vyaih;Ata, rk'z; alo μd:a;w“

But a poor wise man was found in it in it, and he delivered the city by his shrewdness.  Yet nobody remembered that poor man.

Hb; ax;m;W The verb form is a 3ms qal perfect of axm, which is a transitive verb.  The above common translation is based on Hebrew usage in which a transitive verb with an indefinite subject is used in place of a passive form.  This usage is documented in several grammars and continues to exist in modern Hebrew, but normally the verb form is masculine plural, not singular.  If we retain the active sense of the verb, then the translation becomes 'But a poor man in it found a cunning (scheme).…'   This is the meaning that I think was intended.  One problem with this interpretation is that the words in the first clause do not follow normal word order.

μk;j; ˆKes]mi vyai This string consists of an ms noun followed by two ms adjectives.  Usually, when a noun is modified by two adjectives, the second will be joined to the first by a conjunction, so this is a relatively uncommon syntactical arrangement for Classical Hebrew.  The first adjective ˆKes]mi occurs only here in the Hebrew bible, but it is attested well in later Hebrew.  The LXX uses the term pevnhta, which refers to a person who must work for his daily bread ­ like a day laborer today.  μk;j; is  an adjective and normally translated ‘wise,’ but its range of use includes ‘shrewd, cunning.’  This understanding heightens the irony within the vignette: ‘A poor day laborer within the little city discovers some trick that delivers the city, but he is forgotten by the very people that were saved.’ 

hy:WzB] ˆKes]Mih' tm'k]h;w“ hr:WbG]mi hm;k]j; hb;/f ynia; yTir“m'a;w“ 16

.μy[im;v]ni μn;yae wyr:b;d“W

So I said, ‘Wisdom is better than might, but the wisdom of a poor man is despised, and nobody listens (attends) to his words.’

hr:WbG]mi hm;k]j; hb;/f Comparative construction – wisdom is better than might.

hy:WzB] ˆKes]Mih' tm'k]h;w“ Adversative vav.  hy:WzB] is a qal fs passive participle from hzB meaning 'be despised.'  The point within this context is that no matter how wise or skilled a person may be, his social standing within a group may determine whether his input is accepted or valued, even if that group has benefited from this wisdom.

DISCUSSION

Most people in the world today live in some sort of social hierarchy, and the relative degree of acknowledgement a person receives for his contribution to the whole is strongly influenced by his status within that hierarchy.  For example, when I worked for company that manufactured control systems for nuclear power plants, I was regularly asked to write articles for professional journals.  I did all the work, but the president, vice president, and chief engineers regularly took authorship credit.  My name was included at the end of the list only occasionally.  I ultimately was promoted to principal engineer within the company, but this practice continued until I retired.  After I retired, management asked me to continue assisting them with reports and technical analyses.  This arrangement persisted for about five years, but my name never appeared as author on any of the final reports that I produced.

This experience is directly analogous with the above parable.  When one is part of a hierarchy, everything done by an individual is credited to the top of the hierarchy.  If the results are good and beneficial, the top individuals within that of hierarchy typically take essentially all credit to themselves.  If the results are less than absolutely good, then the minions take the heat.