What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 9:14? There was a small city with few men Solomon opens with a scene of vulnerability. A town so small that its fighting force can be counted on two hands sounds hopeless on paper, yet God has always delighted in working through the “few.” • Deuteronomy 7:7 reminds Israel, “The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest.” • Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “For the LORD can save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6). • Jesus speaks of the narrow way that “only a few find” (Matthew 7:14). The literal picture of a tiny population highlights how, in God’s economy, strength is never measured by headcount but by His presence among the humble (Psalm 34:18). A mighty king came against it Now the imbalance intensifies: “a great king,” wielding resources, reputation, and raw power, marches in. Scripture never minimizes very real earthly threats; it simply puts them in perspective. • Psalm 2:2 shows rulers who “take their stand against the LORD.” Earthly power often overestimates itself. • Sennacherib boasted against Jerusalem in Isaiah 37:10–13, yet one angel felled his army overnight (Isaiah 37:36). • Revelation 17:14 looks ahead to kings who “will make war on the Lamb,” only to be conquered “because He is Lord of lords.” Ecclesiastes presents the king as genuinely formidable, yet the verse quietly invites us to remember Who sets limits on every ruler’s reach (Daniel 4:35). Surrounded it The city is cut off. That picture taps into a universal feeling when trouble closes in from every side. • Psalm 118:10-12 describes enemies encircling “like bees,” yet the psalmist still triumphs “in the name of the LORD.” • Elisha’s servant saw horses and chariots hemming in Dothan (2 Kings 6:14), but God opened his eyes to a greater, invisible army (2 Kings 6:17). • Jesus foretold Jerusalem’s own encirclement (Luke 19:43), a sober prophecy fulfilled in A.D. 70. Literal sieges symbolize spiritual pressure as well. Paul writes, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed” (2 Corinthians 4:8), showing how the Lord sustains His people even when the squeeze is real. And built large siege ramps against it Siege ramps were engineering marvels—massive earthen slopes constructed to breach walls. This final detail underlines the aggressor’s patience and determination. The enemy is not going away on his own. • Ezekiel 4:2 pictures similar tactics: “Lay siege to it… build a siege wall, heap up an embankment.” • Daniel 11:31 foretells forces that “will come… and set up the abomination,” a calculated advance, not a haphazard raid. • Spiritually, believers face “schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11), deliberate strategies meant to wear down resistance. The ramp tells us the attack is well-planned and long-term, yet God repeatedly overturns such calculated assaults when His wisdom enters the story (2 Chronicles 32:7-8). summary Ecclesiastes 9:14 paints a vivid, literal snapshot of contrasts: a handful of townsfolk versus a powerhouse monarch, fragile walls versus towering siege ramps. Solomon is teeing up the next verse, where a single wise man delivers the city. By spotlighting utter disparity, he magnifies the value of God-given wisdom over brute force, reminding us that no matter how small, surrounded, or strategically outmatched we may feel, the Lord delights in using the unlikely to confound the mighty. |
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