Ecclesiastes 1:18

Verse

Ecclesiastes 1:18

For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

  • Wisdom
  • Knowledge
  • Sorrow
  • Understanding
  • Life
Bebe's interpretation
For some of us, this verse may be a surprise. Since when did wisdom and knowledge become evil? There is nothing wrong with wisdom and knowledge themselves. The human factor is the problem here.
We all remember the great King Solomon, the son of King David. Solomon was that King who asked God for nothing more than understanding to rule God’s people – a noble request as God would testify (1 Kings 3:9-12). Well, this same King wrote the perplexing words we now read: “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” 
Observing this text, we find a man weary in mind from all that he had learned over the years with regard to his wisdom and understanding. He had accumulated so much knowledge that he wrote almost all of the book of Proverbs, completely wrote Ecclesiastes, and the Songs of Solomon. The first two are called wisdom books. The Preacher – as he calls himself in Ecclesiastes – came to hit a brick wall every human hits at some point in their lives. It is the barrier of human limitations. Wisdom and knowledge have no evil in themselves but we must again go back to the fearful utterance of God in Genesis 2:16-17. It says, "...but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 
Wisdom and knowledge are good, but a corrupted mind cannot handle them. Without love and balance, we will all eventually come to the Preacher's conclusion: For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
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