Ecc 9:17 | KD | STEP | “The words of the wise, heard in quiet, have the superiority above the cry of a ruler among fools.” Instead of tovim min, there stands here the simple min , prae , as at , to express the superiority of the one to the other. Hitzig finds in this proverb the meaning that, as that history has shown, the words of the wise, heard with tranquillity, gain the victory over the cry of a ruler over fools. But (1) the contrast of נחת and זעקת require us to attribute the tranquillity to the wise man himself, and not to his hearers; (2) מו בּךּ is not a ruler over fools, by which it would remain questionable whether he himself was not a fool (cf. ), but a ruler among fools (cf. , מו בּ, “a ruler among men;” and , גּבּ בּ, “the hero among beasts”), i.e. , one who among fools takes the place of chief. The words of the poor wise man pass by unheeded, they are not listened to, because he does not possess an imposing splendid outward appearance, in accordance with which the crowd estimate the value of a man’s words; the wise man does not seek to gain esteem by means of a pompous violent deportment; his words נשׁ בּ are heard, let themselves be heard, are to be heard (cf. e.g. , Sol 2:12) in quiet ( ); for, trusting to their own inward power of conviction, and committing the result to God, he despises vociferous pomp, and the external force of earthly expedients (cf. ; ); but the words of the wise, which are to be heard in unassuming, passionless quietness, are of more value than the vociferation with which a king among fools, an arch-fool, a non plus ultra among fools, trumpets forth his pretended wisdom and constrains his hearers.

‏ Ecclesiastes 9:17

Ecc 9:17 “The words of the wise, heard in quiet, have the superiority above the cry of a ruler among fools.” Instead of tovim min, there stands here the simple min, prae, as at Ecc 5:1, to express the superiority of the one to the other. Hitzig finds in this proverb the meaning that, as that history has shown, the words of the wise, heard with tranquillity, gain the victory over the cry of a ruler over fools. But (1) the contrast of נחת and זעקת require us to attribute the tranquillity to the wise man himself, and not to his hearers; (2) מו בּךּ is not a ruler over fools, by which it would remain questionable whether he himself was not a fool (cf. Job 41:26), but a ruler among fools (cf. 2Sa 23:3, מו בּ, “a ruler among men;” and Pro 30:30, גּבּ בּ, “the hero among beasts”), i.e., one who among fools takes the place of chief. The words of the poor wise man pass by unheeded, they are not listened to, because he does not possess an imposing splendid outward appearance, in accordance with which the crowd estimate the value of a man’s words; the wise man does not seek to gain esteem by means of a pompous violent deportment; his words נשׁ בּ are heard, let themselves be heard, are to be heard (cf. e.g., Sol 2:12) in quiet (Isa 30:15); for, trusting to their own inward power of conviction, and committing the result to God, he despises vociferous pomp, and the external force of earthly expedients (cf. Isa 42:2; Mat 12:19); but the words of the wise, which are to be heard in unassuming, passionless quietness, are of more value than the vociferation with which a king among fools, an arch-fool, a non plus ultra among fools, trumpets forth his pretended wisdom and constrains his hearers.