Ecclesiastes 2:12 - Meaning and Application

Solomon had tested learning, then the pleasures of the senses, and then both together. Here he compares them and gives his judgment. He first turns again to wisdom and folly, even though he had already looked at them before (Ecclesiastes 1:17). He wants a second look, to see whether another review will give him more satisfaction than the first did.

He had grown tired of pleasure, almost sick of it, so he turned away from it and went back to study. If his judgment stays the same after this fresh look, then the verdict is sure. Who can come after the king and do better, especially a king like Solomon, who had both great wealth and great wisdom for the experiment? No one should expect to find more in the world than Solomon found, or to learn more about moral life than he did.

From this, we should learn not to think too highly of ourselves, as if we can improve on what better minds have already done. We should honor the work of others and admit how much we owe them (John 4:37-38). We should also accept Solomon’s judgment about the world and not keep trying to repeat his test. We cannot match his advantages, his focus, or his safety.

Solomon then gives wisdom the clear advantage over folly. He does not mean to mock wisdom or praise folly, as if he were writing a joke in its honor. He is speaking serious truth, so he is careful not to be misunderstood. He says he soon saw that wisdom is greater than folly, just as light is greater than darkness.

The pleasures of wisdom do not make a person truly happy, but they are far better than the pleasures of wine and foolish living. Wisdom gives light to the mind. It shows surprising things and gives needed direction for right self-government. But sensual living, which seems to be the folly in view here, darkens the mind like an eclipse. It blinds people, causes them to stumble, and makes them lose their way.

Even though wisdom and knowledge do not make a person blessed in the highest sense, Paul shows a more excellent way, which is grace, they are still far better than having no wisdom at all. They help with safety, comfort, and usefulness in this life. “The wise man’s eyes are in his head” (Ecclesiastes 2:14), where they should be. He sees danger before it comes and notices good opportunities. He is not trying to find his reason when he needs it. He is alert, knows where to step, and knows when to stop.

A foolish person walks in darkness. He is always getting lost or running into trouble. He does not know which way to go, or he cannot move ahead safely. A careful, thoughtful person manages his business well and walks with steadiness. But a rash, ignorant, and foolish person keeps making bad choices, stumbling into one trouble after another. His plans and deals are foolish, and they bring ruin. So we should seek wisdom and understanding.

Still, Solomon says that when it comes to lasting happiness, the wisdom of this world gives very little advantage. Wise people and fools often fare the same. Wise people may have more foresight and better judgment, yet events often turn out the same for both. “One event happens to them all” (Ecclesiastes 2:14). The careful person still gets sick, and the suspicious person can still be deceived.

David had said that wise men die and share the same common fate as fools and the brutish (Psalm 49:12). See also Ecclesiastes 9:11. It has long been observed that fortune often seems to favor fools, and that less thoughtful people sometimes prosper more than those who plan best. The same sickness, the same sword, destroys both wise men and fools.

Solomon applies this humbling truth to himself (Ecclesiastes 2:15). Even though he was wise, he must not boast in his wisdom. He says to himself that what happens to the fool happens to him too, even to him. The original wording stresses this strongly. If a foolish person gets sick or falls, so does he. His wealth and wisdom will not protect him. So why should he think he was wiser? Why should he take so much trouble to gain wisdom, if it helps so little in this life? He concludes that this also is vanity, empty and unable to give lasting gain.

Some take this as a correction of his earlier thought, as if he were saying it was foolish to think wise men and fools are on the same level. But in the matter of life’s outcome, they do seem to be the same. So this is really a confirmation of what he has already said, that a person may be deeply wise and skilled, yet not be a happy man.

Wise men and fools are also forgotten alike (Ecclesiastes 2:16). There is no lasting remembrance of the wise more than of the fool. The righteous are promised an everlasting memory, and their name will be blessed. They will soon shine like the stars. But no such promise is made to the wisdom of this world. Worldly wisdom does not keep a person’s name alive. Only the names written in heaven endure, while the names of worldly wise men lie in the dust with those of fools.

What is happening now will all be forgotten in days to come. What was widely talked about in one generation may be as if it never happened in the next. New people and new events push the old ones out of memory. In a short time they are looked at with contempt, and then they are buried in complete forgetfulness. “Where is the wise? Where is the scholar of this world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20). For this reason Solomon asks, How does the wise man die? Just like the fool.

There is a great difference between the death of a godly person and the death of a wicked person. But there is no clear difference, in the world’s eyes, between the death of a wise person and a fool. The fool is buried and soon forgotten (Ecclesiastes 8:10), and people did not remember the poor man who saved the city by his wisdom (Ecclesiastes 9:15). In that sense, the grave is a place of forgetfulness for both.

Even wise and learned people, after they have been in the grave for some time and are no longer seen, fade from memory. A new generation rises up that never knew them.