the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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World English Bible
Ecclesiastes 9:14
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There was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and built large siegeworks against it.
There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it.
There was a litle citie and a few men within it: so there came a great kyng and besieged it, and made great bulwarkes against it.
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and encompassed it, and built great bulwarks against it:
There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great snares [fn] around it.
There was a little city, and few men in it. And a great king came against it, and besieged it, and built huge siege works against it.
There was a small town with a few people in it. A great king fought against that town and put his armies all around it.
There was a little citie, and few men within it; and there came a great King against it, and besieged it, & built great bulwarks against it:
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
There was a litle cite, & a few me within it: so there came a greate kynge & beseged it, & made greate bulworkes agaynst it.
There was a little city with few men in it and a great king came against it and besieged it and built great battlements against it.
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
There was a little town and the number of its men was small, and there came a great king against it and made an attack on it, building works of war round about it.
There was a little city, and few men inside it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
[There was] a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
There was once a small city with a few men in it, and a mighty king attacked it, besieging it and building strong siege works against it.
It happened when a powerful ruler surrounded and attacked a small city where only a few people lived. The enemy army was getting ready to break through the city walls.
there was a small town with few people in it; and a great king came to attack it; he surrounded it and built massive siege-works against it.
A litle citie and fewe men in it, and a great King came against it, and compassed it about, and builded fortes against it.
There was a little city and few men in it; and there came a great king against it and beseiged it and built bulwarks against it;
There was a little city, and few men within it; and a great king came against it, besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it.
there was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it;
There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it.
There was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it. His army gathered around it and built a large wall to help them in battle against it.
suppose there were a little city, and few men in it; and there should come against it a great king, and surround it, and build great mounds against it;
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:
There was a small city with few men. A mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege ramps against it.
There was a little city with few people in it. A great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.
A little city, and men therein few, - and there came against it a great king, and surrounded it, and built against it large siege-works;
A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege was perfect.
There was a small city with few people in it. A great king came and besieged it, building great siege works against it.
There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.
there was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it.
There was a small town with only a few people in it. A great king fought against it and put his armies all around it.
There was a little town without many people in it. A powerful king attacked it. He surrounded it and prepared to break through the walls.
There was a small city with few men in it. A great king came against it, surrounded it, and built large siege works against it.
A litil citee, and a fewe men ther ynne; a greet kyng cam ayens it, and cumpasside it with palis, and he bildide strengthis bi cumpas; and bisegyng was maad perfit.
There was a little city with few men in it; and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it.
A little city, and few men in it, and a great king hath come unto it, and hath surrounded it, and hath built against it great bulwarks;
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
There was: 2 Samuel 20:15-22, 2 Kings 6:24-33, 2 Kings 7:1-20
Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 20:20 - thou shalt build Judges 8:35 - showed 1 Samuel 23:12 - They will 2 Samuel 20:16 - General 2 Samuel 20:22 - in her wisdom Proverbs 24:5 - A wise Isaiah 33:6 - wisdom 1 Corinthians 12:22 - General
Gill's Notes on the Bible
[There was] a little city, and few men within it,.... Which some take to be a piece of history, a real matter of fact; that as the city of Abel, when besieged by Joab, was delivered by the counsel of a wise woman, 2 Samuel 20:15; so there was a city, which Solomon had knowledge of, which was delivered from the siege of a powerful king, by the wise counsel of a poor wise man: though others think it is only a fiction, fable, or parable; the moral of which is, that political wisdom, even in a poor mean person, is sometimes very useful and serviceable, though it does not meet with its proper merit. Many of the Jewish writers understand the whole allegorically and figuratively; so the Targum, by "the little city", understands the body of man; by "few men in it", the little righteousness there is in the heart of man; though, according to the Midrash, Jarchi, and Alshech, they are the members of the body; by "the great king", the evil imagination, or corruption of nature, which is great to oppress, and besieges the heart to cause it to err; and by "the poor wise man", the good imagination or affection, which prevails over the other, and subdues it, and delivers the body from hell, and yet not remembered; and so the Midrash, and the ancient Jews in Aben Ezra, though he himself understands it according to its literal sense. Some Christian interpreters explain it to better purpose, concerning the church attacked by Satan, and delivered by Christ, who, notwithstanding, is unkindly and ungratefully used: the church is often compared to a city, it is the city of God, and of which saints are fellow citizens; it is but a "little" one in comparison of the world, and, in some periods and ages of the world, lesser than in others; it is little and contemptible in the eyes of the world, and the inhabitants of it are mean and low in their own eyes; they are a little flock, Luke 12:32; and "few" in number that are "within it": some are only of it, but not in it, or are external members only, which sometimes are many; or outward, not inward, court worshippers; they are few, comparatively, that belong to the invisible church, that are chosen, redeemed, called, and saved, Matthew 20:16; there are but few able men, especially such as are capable of defending the church against its enemies.
and there came a great king against it; Satan, the prince of devils and of the posse of them in the air, the god and prince of the world of the ungodly, who works in their hearts, and leads them captive at his will who may be said to be "great" with respect to the numbers under him, legions of devils, and the whole world that lies in wickedness, or "in" or "under" the wicked one: and on account of the power he exercises, by divine permission, over the bodies and minds of men; and in comparison of the little city, and few men in it, being stronger than they,
Matthew 12:24; he comes from the region of the air, where his posse are; or from going to and fro in the earth; or from hell, into which he is cast down: he comes by divine permission; in the manner evil spirits do, by temptation; in a hostile way, against the church and people of God, to destroy and devour them, if possible;
and besieged it; surrounded it on all sides, as the Gog and Magog army trader him will encompass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city,
Revelation 20:9;
and built great bulwarks against it; such as are called strong holds,
2 Corinthians 10:4. Satan's first attack was upon the elect of God, in Adam; when he brought them, through sin, under a sentence of condemnation and death, though then they were preserved in Christ; and ever since he has been attacking the church by persecution, in order to take it by storm; and by spreading errors and heresies, such as tend to raze the foundation, and to pull down the superstructure of grace; and by promoting schisms, and laying such large principles of church communion, as tend to take away ordinances and discipline, the fence of the city; and by throwing in hand grenades of strife and contention, to raise a civil war among the citizens themselves; and, by various temptations to sin, to gain deserters: these are some of his bulwarks, batteries, and engines.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
A parable probably without foundation in fact. Critics who ascribe this book to a late age offer no better suggestion than that the “little city” may be Athens delivered 480 b.c. from the host of Xerxes through the wisdom of Themistocles, or Dora besieged 218 b.c. by Antiochus the Great.
Ecclesiastes 9:16-17 are comments on the two facts - the deliverance of the city and its forgetfulness of him who delivered it - stated in Ecclesiastes 9:15.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. There was a little city, and few men within it — Here is another proof of the vanity of sublunary things; the ingratitude of men, and the little compensation that genuine merit receives. The little history mentioned here may have either been a fact, or intended as an instructive fable. A little city, with few to defend it, being besieged by a great king and a powerful army, was delivered by the cunning and address on a poor wise man; and afterwards his townsmen forgot their obligation to him.
Those who spiritualize this passage, making the little city the CHURCH, the few men the APOSTLES, the great king the DEVIL, and the poor wise man JESUS CHRIST, abuse the text.
But the Targum is not less whimsical: "The little city is the human body; few men in it, few good affections to work righteousness; the great king, evil concupiscence, which, like a strong and powerful king, enters into the body to oppress it, and besieges the heart so as to cause it to err; built great bulwarks against it - evil concupiscence builds his throne in it wheresoever he wills, and causes it to decline from the ways that are right before God; that it may be taken in the greatest nets of hell, that he may burn it seven times, because of its sins. But there is found in it a poor wise man - a good, wise, and holy affection, which prevails over the evil principle, and snatches the body from the judgment of hell, by the strength of its wisdom. Yet, after this deliverance, the man did not remember what the good principle had done for him; but said in his heart, I am innocent," c.
What a wonderful text has this been in the hands of many a modern Targumist and with what force have the Keachonians preached Christ crucified from it!
Such a passage as this receives a fine illustration from the case of Archimedes saving the city of Syracuse from all the Roman forces besieging it by sea ana land. He destroyed their ships by his burning-glasses, lifted up their galleys out of the water by his machines, dashing some to pieces, and sinking others. One man's wisdom here prevailed for a long time against the most powerful exertions of a mighty nation. In this case, wisdom far exceeded strength. But was not Syracuse taken, notwithstanding the exertions of this poor wise man? No. But it was betrayed by the baseness of Mericus, a Spaniard, one of the Syracusan generals. He delivered the whole district he commanded into the hands of Marcellus, the Roman consul, Archimedes having defeated every attempt made by the Romans, either by sea or land: yet he commanded no company of men, made no sorties, but confounded and destroyed them by his machines. This happened about 208 years before Christ, and nearly about the time in which those who do not consider Solomon as the author suppose this book to have been written. This wise man was not remembered; he was slain by a Roman soldier while deeply engaged in demonstrating a new problem, in order to his farther operations against the enemies of his country. See Plutarch, and the historians of this Syracusan war.
When Alexander the Great was about to destroy the city Lampsacus, his old master Anaximenes came out to meet him. Alexander, suspecting his design, that he would intercede for the city, being determined to destroy it, swore that he would not grant him any thing he should ask. Then said Anaximenes, "I desire that you will destroy this city." Alexander respected his oath, and the city was spared. Thus, says Valerius Maximus, the narrator, (lib. vii. c. iii., No. 4. Extern.,) by this sudden turn of sagacity, this ancient and noble city was preserved from the destruction by which it was threatened. "Haec velocitas sagacitatis oppidum vetusta nobilitate inclytum exitio, cui destinatum erat, subtraxit."
A stratagem of Jaddua, the high priest, was the means of preserving Jerusalem from being destroyed by Alexander, who, incensed because they had assisted the inhabitants of Gaza when he besieged it, as soon as he had reduced it, marched against Jerusalem, with the determination to raze it to the ground; but Jaddua and his priests in their sacerdotal robes, meeting him on the way, he was so struck with their appearance that he not only prostrated himself before the high priest, and spared the city, but also granted it some remarkable privileges. But the case of Archimedes and Syracuse is the most striking and appropriate in all its parts. That of Anaximenes and Lampsacus is also highly illustrative of the maxim of the wise man: "Wisdom is better than strength."
