Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes · §9.3 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

The poor wise man who could save a city

Wisdom outweighs strength and wealth: one poor wise man could save a besieged city.

But I know well that those who seem swiftest will not finish that great race, and those reputed among men as mighty and fearsome will not win the fearful war; nor is prudence proved by an abundance of food, nor does understanding usually keep company with wealth (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Nor do I share the gladness of those who think that all people will meet the same lot (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Those who ponder such things seem to be fast asleep. They do not reckon that, snatched away like fish and birds, they will be worn down in misfortunes, suddenly receiving the penalty they deserve (Ecclesiastes 9:12).

But I hold wisdom so great a thing that even a small city, inhabited by few and besieged by the hand of a great king, I count populous and great if it has even one wise citizen, though he is poor (Ecclesiastes 9:13–15). For such a man could save his own city both from the enemy and from the siege works. Others do not recognize that poor wise man (Ecclesiastes 9:15); but I much prefer the strength that lies in wisdom to this common sort of power (Ecclesiastes 9:16). Here, it is true, wisdom that lives with poverty is held in dishonor (Ecclesiastes 9:16); but afterward it will be heard, its voice rising above rulers and tyrants who reach for evil (Ecclesiastes 9:17). For wisdom is stronger even than iron; and the folly of one man brings danger on many, even if many despise it (Ecclesiastes 9:18).

Greek

Ἐγὼ δὲ εὖ οἶδα, ὡς οὔτε οἱ κουφότατοι δοκοῦντες τὸν μέγαν δρόμον ἐκεῖνον ἀνύσουσιν, οὔτε οἱ δυνατοὶ καὶ φοβεροὶ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις δεδοξασμένοι, τὸν φοβερὸν πόλεμον νικήσουσιν. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ἐν ἐδωδῆς πλήθει φρόνησις δοκιμάζεται, οὐδὲ σύνεσις πλούτῳ κοινωνεῖν εἴωθεν. Οὐδὲ συγχαίρω τοῖς οἰομένοις ἅπαντας τῶν ὁμοίων τεύξεσθαι. Πάνυ δὲ ὑπνώττειν ἐοίκασιν οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐνθυμούμενοι, καὶ μὴ λογιζόμενοι, ὡς δίκην ἰχθύων καὶ ὀρνέων ἀνάρπαστοι γινόμενοι, ἐν κακοῖς κατατριβήσονται, ἄφνω τῆς ἀξίας λαχόντες ἐπιτιμίας. Ἐγὼ δὲ σοφίαν οὕτω τι μέγα ἡγοῦμαι, ὡς καὶ πόλιν μικρὰν ὑπ᾽ ὀλίγων μὲν οἰκουμένην, ὑπὸ δὲ μεγάλου πολιορκουμένην βασιλέως χειρὶ, πολλὴν καὶ μεγάλην ἡγοῦμαι, εἰ καὶ ἕνα σοφὸν ἄνδρα πολίτην ἔχοι πένητα. Δύναιτο γὰρ ἂν οὗτος καὶ ἐκ τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ ἐκ τῶν χαρακωμάτων τὴν ἑαυτοῦ διασῶσαι πόλιν. Καὶ ἄλλοι μὲν τὸν σοφὸν ἐκεῖνον οὐ γινώσκουσι πένητα· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ πάνυ προκρίνω τὴν ἐν σοφίᾳ ἰσχὺν ταύτης τῆς δημώδους δυνάμεως. Ἀλλ᾽ ἐνθάδε μὲν ἀτιμάζεται σοφία πενίᾳ συνοικοῦσα· ἀκουσθήσεται δὲ μετέπειτα ὑπερφωνοῦσα δυνάστας καὶ τυράννους κακῶν ὀρεγομένους. Σοφία γὰρ καὶ σιδήρου δυνατωτέρα· Ἀφροσύνη τε ἑνὸς πολλοῖς κίνδυνον ἐργάζεται, κἂν πολλοῖς καταφρόνητος ᾖ.

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About this text

Gregory Thaumaturgus retells the whole of Ecclesiastes in Solomon's voice: human affairs are empty, pleasure and wealth never satisfy, and the book ends with its charge to fear God and keep His commandments, for every person will be judged. A fresh English translation from the Greek.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this paraphrase of Ecclesiastes for the whole Church of God. He was a third-century Christian bishop, born in Neocaesarea in Pontus to a wealthy pagan family and originally named Theodore.

The work is a paraphrase, not a commentary, presenting the teaching of Ecclesiastes in Gregory's own Greek. Gregory speaks in his own voice when he says he is addressing the Church and has given these matters sufficient thought.

A reader will meet Solomon, King David, and Gregory himself. The argument is that all human affairs and pursuits are empty and useless, because people are defeated by temporal things and refuse to look above the stars with the noble eye of the soul. Human life wears away like winter torrents pouring into the boundless deep. What God has established remains fixed, but human words and deeds have no measure, and idle talk brings no profit. Nothing new ever happens; what seems new was already known to the ancients, and both past and present fade into oblivion. The paraphrase then follows Ecclesiastes to its end: Solomon tries wisdom, pleasure and great works and finds them empty, weighs wisdom against folly, tells how he once reasoned that the righteous and the wicked meet the same end and rejects it, and closes with the charge to fear God and keep His commandments, for every person will be judged. The work paraphrases Ecclesiastes, so readers should use the Septuagint book name and numbering, cited as Ecclesiastes (LXX).

English translated from the Greek of the MGR / Documenta Catholica Omnia transcription (TLG 2063.006, from PG 10), read from its page images. From Ecclesiastes 1:13 to the end, each passage was also checked against the Greek and Latin columns of the Opera omnia print (Paris, 1622). The older Ante-Nicene Fathers English was used only as a sense check for the opening section.

Printed text used

Translated from MGR / Documenta Catholica Omnia concordance (Greek · Whole work)
Translated from Greek of the opening section (Greek · Ecclesiastes 1:1-12)
Also checked Opera omnia, Greek and Latin (Paris: Sonnius, Morel and Cramoisy, 1622), page images (Greek and Latin · Ecclesiastes 1:13 to the end)

Where the prints differ

Section 5.1 (Ecclesiastes 5:8) — The transcription brackets οὐ as an editor's supplement; the 1622 print has it as text ('there is no need to wonder'), and the English follows the 1622 print.
Section 5.2 (Ecclesiastes 5:10) — The transcription's χόρος is read as κόρος ('fill, satiety') with the 1622 print.
Section 7.1 (Ecclesiastes 6:12) — The transcription's πλέοντι is read as πλέον τι ('anything more') with the 1622 print.
Section 10.2 (Ecclesiastes 10:9) — The transcription prints ἀλλὰ μή with the editor's conjecture μήν; the English follows μήν ('Moreover'), as the 1622 Latin does.
Section 12.2 (Ecclesiastes 12:8) — The transcription's ἂ is read as the relative ἃ ('what I said before'), as the 1622 Latin requires.
Chapters 6-12 — Small typing and accent errors in the transcription are corrected from the 1622 print.

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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