wisdom; the key to a happy life

8/12/2019 Wisdom; The Key to a Happy Life

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Chetiwe Kapila

Cosmin Ritivoiu

English 102

17 March 2014

Wisdom the Key to a Happy Life

In the first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 8, Solomon gives a

description of wisdom and its importance. The first verse says,

Who [is] as the wise [man]? and who knoweth the interpretation

of a thing? a man's wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the

boldness of his face shall be changed (King James

Bible,Eccl.8.1). The author in the first sentence seems to use

questions to try and engage his audience as they read his

writing. It would seem as though he wants his audience to

evaluate themselves and to see if they have the qualities that

make a wise man.

The author was most likely trying to give his audience a

yearning for this type of wisdom. He goes on to tell the results

of wisdom when he says, it maketh his face to shine. The word

shine is a very fitting one and is used because something that

is shinny cannot easily be missed. Just as something, shinny

would stand out, the demeanor and countenance of a wise person

makes them noticeable. The last phrase of the first verse says,

and the boldness of his face shall be changed. This statement

when looked at on the surface can be somewhat confusing and hard


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to understand. To understand how a pe rsons boldne ss can be

changed, a clear definition must be understood. The word

boldness means acting with bravery. In the Hebrew language, the

word boldness is closely related to confidence and is always

looked upon in a positive way. Without this knowledge, one, at

first glance could think the author is saying a mans ap pearance

is being changed from being a cowardly one to a brave one or a

brave one to a cowardly expression. Being that the changes of a

wise person are positive ones, the meaning of this phrase is

that the quality of being wise makes a person have a brave

essence about them.

In the second verse, a change in methods of appealing to

the audience can be seen. He changes from general questioning

to making a more personal appeal when he says, I [counsel thee]

to keep the king's commandment, and [that] in regard of the oath

of God. By using the word counsel, the author is trying to

advise, warn or reprove the audience of something. This is a

good word choice because it makes the audience listen and take

the writing more personally. The counsel the author is giving

is to keep the kings commandments. The character being

introduced in this passage if a king. This can be found

interesting because the author himself is a king, in a way it

can seem as though he is giving this advice to be benefited from


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it. However, what the author is saying is a principle found in

all over the Bible. In principle, Jesus also gives the counsel

to render to creaser what is creasers and God what is Gods in

Mark 12:17. In this phrase, the next character introduced is God

who is a king. The author likens God to a king because a king

is very authoritative and is someone who is heard when he

speaks. He uses this parallel to show and emphasize that we too

should give God the same respect a king deserves.

The third verse of this passage says, Be not hasty to go

out of his sight: stand not in an evil thing; for he doeth

whatsoever pleaseth him. It is ironic that the author says to

be not hasty to go out of his sight. According to the Strongs

Hebrew Concordance , The word hasty means to be urgent. Something

must be wrong if a person is trying to quickly leave the

presence of God. It can be seen that this is very different from

the beginning of the passage where there is a shinning face one

pleasant to be around. The ironic part to this is that the

author says not to flee from the sight of God but this act is

impossible. Because God is all knowing and all seeing, it is

impossible to not be in His sight. When the author says,

Standeth not in an evil thing, the author most likely uses the

word thing because a thing can be used to describe a broad


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definition of many things. The word thing sums up the evil and

bad influences a person can be involved in

Throughout the passage, the author maintains a serious

tone. He conveys this through different word choices such as, I

counsel thee , or through the thought provoking questions given.

The message the author has seems to be one of warning or

advising. The tone used in this passage gives the message being

carried some weight and gives the audience a need to accept the

counsel or at least hear what it is.


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Work Cited

Richard, Larry. The New Adventure Bible: King James Version. Grand

Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1994. Print

Strongs Hebrew: 982. (batach).N.P., n.d.Web.17 March.2014.

http://biblehub.com/hebrew/982.htm .
http://biblehub.com/hebrew/982.htmhttp://biblehub.com/hebrew/982.htm

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