Ecclesiastes 9:18

Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war,.... And does what they cannot do; of which the wisdom of the poor wise man is a full proof, which delivered the city from a potent prince, when weapons of war

Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good. One sinner ... - as Achan (Joshua 7:1; Joshua 7:11-12).

Than weapons of war; than armed power. Sinner; a wicked fool; by which expression and opposition of a sinner to a wise man he gives us a key to understand his meaning in divers places of his books, that by wisdom he means true piety, and by folly wickedness; and withal, showeth that sin, as it is the greatest folly, so it is more pernicious to men than mere folly properly so called. Destroyeth much good; by his wicked counsels and courses brings much damage and mischief, both to himself and others.

Ecclesiastes 9:18 Wisdom [is] better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.Ver. 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war.] As David found it in his encounter with Goliath, Gideon in his stratagem against the Midianites, and our renowned Drake in dissipating that Invincible Armada, which being three years in preparing with incredible cost, was by his wisdom within a month overthrown and confounded, with the loss of one English ship only, and not a hundred persons. Romani sedendo vincunt. This was the glory of the Romans, that they conquered the world by wisdom, not by weapons. “ Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem. ” Not Achilles, but Ulysses is termed πολιοπορθος, the sacker of cities; Cyneas took mere towns by his policy than Pyrrhus by his prowess. But one sinner destroyeth much good.] He may be as an Achan in the army, as a Jonah in the ship, a trouble-town, a common mischief, a traitor to the state; especially if he be an eminent man, as Jeroboam, that ringleader of rebellion, and Manasseh, who "made Judah also to sin," and so brought such evil upon them, that whosoever heard of it, "both his ears tingled." Great men’ s sins do more hurt (1.) By imitation; for Regis ad exemplnm, &c.; ( 2.) By imputation, for plectuntur Achivi; the poor people pay for such men’ s faults, as they did for David’ s. I shall close up this chapter with that memorable passage of a reverend writer, yet alive: If England’ s fears were greater, thy reformation may save it. If our hopes were greater, thy sin and security might undo it. One sinner destroys much good. I only add, how much more a rabble of rebels, conspiring to provoke God. Sure I am, we have great cause to wish for our country, as Ferus did for the Romish synagogue; I would we had some Moses, said he, to take away the evils, Non enim unum tantum vitulum, sed multos habemus, for we have not only one golden calf, but many among us. Plutarch.

Verse 18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war] So proved in the case of Archimedes. But one sinner] Such as the Roman butcher above mentioned. Destroyeth much good] Such as were the life and skill of the Syracusan mathematician. One sinner has often injured the work of God; one stumbling-block has sometimes destroyed a revival of religion. Sin acts like a ferment; whatever comes in contact with it, it assimilates to itself.

18. Wisdom is better than weapons of war] The maxim presents another illustration of the irony of history. The excellence of wisdom is acknowledged. Counsel is more than the materiel of war; the statesman more than the general, and yet one man by his guilt or folly, by the perversity which includes both (the Hebrew verb for “sinneth” has this meaning, as in Proverbs 8:36), may mar what it has taken years to bring to a good issue. The defeat of an army, the most terrible catastrophe, may often be traced to the fact that “some one has blundered,” in carelessness or passion. It is probable enough that, as in Ecclesiastes 9:14, the writer had some definite historical fact present to his thoughts which we are unable to identify. The history of Achan, in Joshua 7:1-12, presents a sufficient illustration.

Sinner - The word in the original indicates intellectual as well as moral error.

18. Wisdom… weapons — The antithesis is continued, Though wisdom be better. The anecdote given above illustrates this. The “poor wise man” prevaileth over the army and the bulwarks. But — Better, yet. One sinner — One fool.