Qoheleth regularly uses the “better” saying to express conclusions based on what he has observed. In this case But I say is an emphatic statement by which he stresses the correctness of his conclusion. Good News Translation “I have always said…” is appropriate. Because there is an emphatic “I” pronoun in Hebrew, we can also say “But as for me, I say…” or “But me, I say….” Some languages may prefer a stronger verb, and “believe” or “affirm” are possibilities.

Wisdom is better than might: on wisdom see above in verse 15 and 1.13. The use of the term might as the second element in the comparison links with verse 11 (where the same term is translated “strong”). This further indicates the close relationship between this subsection and the previous discussion. Might refers here to military power. In comparing the two Qoheleth says wisdom is better. Obviously his meaning is that wisdom is the more effective or of more value.

If this short proverb can be rendered as a proverb, so much the better. But in many cases it will be necessary to express the saying in a fuller form; for example, “A wise man is more powerful than a mighty one,” “It is better to be wise than to be strong,” or “It is wisdom and not military might that makes a person victorious.”

Though the poor man’s wisdom is despised: Qoheleth states here that it doesn’t matter if not even one person appreciates what the wise person does. Wisdom is still more powerful than physical strength. This clause is introduced by the particle “though,” or “even though”; it depends on the point made in verse 11, that wisdom will not always win rewards for a person. In some languages a conjunction like “but” or “however” followed by a full clause will be more effective than a subordinate clause begun with “though.”

Poor man’s wisdom should not be translated in a way that gives the impression that because a person was poor therefore his wisdom was somehow less valuable. One way to avoid that wrong impression is to make clear that the poor man is the one referred to in verse 15. We can use the demonstrative “that” and say “that poor man’s….” Then the term wisdom can also be expanded to “the wisdom [he] demonstrated.”

Is despised: Revised Standard Version uses the present tense to give the sense of a principle or general truth. There is no difficulty about using present or past tense to translate sentences like this in English. Despised is a passive participle, which in some translations may need to be expressed in the active mode, “people despise….” We can express the same idea as “people do not value wisdom” or “people have no respect for wisdom.” In some languages it will be hard to say that people despise something abstract like “wisdom.” In that case we may refer to “… what wise people say.” We may also say “the words of that poor wise man were not taken seriously.”

And his words are not heeded: because people did not appreciate the value of what this wise man taught, they took no notice of him. Here his words refers to the advice and instruction he gave. A second passive participle not heeded is used here, and again it may be easily rendered as active if required. The verb heeded is actually the verb “heard” or “listened” and was commented on in 5.1. We can say “his advice was ignored [or, not followed].” Good News Translation “nobody pays any attention to” is also close to the idea of disregarding what the wise man taught, though slightly weaker. Despite the fact that the wise man saved his town by some wise action, the rest of the town soon forgot what he had done and showed no interest in his obviously wise recommendations. Qoheleth says that, even though this happens, wisdom is still powerful.

It may also be possible to combine the last two clauses into one, since it was by ignoring his words that people rejected the man’s wisdom. We can refer, for example, to the man’s “wise advice” or “wise words.”

For translation:

• … even though that poor man’s wise advice was not valued and not followed.

• … even though people did not appreciate the wisdom that poor man demonstrated, and did not take his advice.

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 .