Ecclesiastes 6:8

So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? ¹  And what advantage ²  does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive? ³ 

Ge 17:1; Ps 101:2; Ps 116:9; Pr 19:1; Ec 2:14-16; Ec 5:11; Lu 1:6; 1Ti 6:17

¹ sn So what advantage does the wise man have over a fool? The rhetorical question in Hebrew implies a negative answer: the wise man has no absolute advantage over a fool in the sense that both will share the same fate: death. Qoheleth should not be misunderstood here as denying that wisdom has no relative advantage over folly; elsewhere he affirms that wisdom does yield some relative benefits in life (7:1-22). However, wisdom cannot deliver one from death.

² sn As in the preceding parallel line, this rhetorical question implies a negative answer (see the note after the word “fool” in the preceding line).

³ tn Heb “ What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”