The connective with which this verse begins is the contrastive But. Its purpose is to mark a contrast with the seemingly hopeless situation described in verse 14.

There was found in it is a very impersonal expression. We can render this as “there was,” or “there happened to be.” Some languages will prefer to repeat the location: “There in that town there was….”

A poor wise man: on the significance of linking poor with wise, see comments on 4.13.

By his wisdom is an instrumental phrase. The wise man’s only weapon was his wisdom. This illustration emphasizes the fact that wisdom was something practical, helping a person to cope with every aspect of living in this world. Note that in verse 18 wisdom is compared to a “weapon of war.” See comments on 1.13. It may be very difficult to translate this phrase, since a literal translation would be meaningless. In some cases the translator may be able to say “thanks to his wisdom” or “because of his wisdom, he was able to….” Some languages may use a loosely connected subordinate clause to show that the man “used wisdom”; for example, “The way that man was wise, he delivered the city….”

Delivered the city: a term used to describe military battles appears here in verbal form. The meaning is that the wise man won a great victory, and the means of that victory was his wisdom. What he actually did, and how he used that wisdom to save the town, are not mentioned.

Note that Good News Translation “he could have saved the town” (also New English Bible) means that the wise man had the ability to help but nobody thought to ask him. As a result the town was not saved. This alternative translation is based upon an interpretation of the Hebrew perfect verb form as indicating what might have happened—an interpretation that is possible but not likely in this context. The reasons we suggest translating as though the wise man actually saved the town are found within the context:
(1) It is clear that Qoheleth is illustrating the principle outlined in verse 11, namely, that victory does not always go to the strong.
(2) A second reason is that the “better” saying in verse 16 assumes that wisdom was victorious, otherwise the conclusion it offers is not convincing. We recommend against following Good News Translation at this point.

Yet no one remembered that poor man: here is the irony of the situation; it illustrates the principle set out in verse 11, that wisdom and its effective use may not bring any reward. The introductory particle translated Yet can also be rendered as “however,” or “despite that,” or simply “but….” It highlights the contrast between the successful use of wisdom and the people’s reaction to it.

No one remembered: after he had saved the town, people soon forgot all about what the wise man had achieved for them.

No one is literally “a man,” so there may be a play on words: A man (ʾadam) did not remember that poor man (ʾadam). In many languages such a play on words will not be effective, but we may express the emphasis it gives by saying “Not a single person remembered….”

That poor man may be redundant in some languages, in which case the preposition “him” can be substituted. On the other hand, in many languages repeating this phrase will lead the reader to have a feeling of sympathy for this character, and if such is the case the repetition should be maintained.

A possible translation is:

• There was a wise but poor man in the town. He saved the town by his wisdom. Yet nobody remembered him.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Ecclesiates. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .