(14.) A city small, and the men (אנשים, ‘weak men’) in it (emphatic, ‘in that same’) a few, and there came against it a king (who was) great, and he surrounded it, and built over against it networks very great ones;
15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
Now there was found therein a poor wise working man, and he it was who saved the city by his wisdom; yet men did not remember that same person because he was a poor working man.
(15.) and was found in it (again emphatic) a man (איש, the rest are אנשים) poor (chapter iv. 13, and here only, מסכן, LXX. πένητα. The meaning of πένης is that kind of poverty which seeks its food by labour, and differs from πτωχὸς, which signifies a mendicant. Fuerst gives the derivation, ס־כן, of the root, which would imply such a meaning as the LXX. have), wise (there is no copula between these two qualifying words. It is not a poor and wise man, but a man economically wise——who could make his wisdom go a long way), and saved (even) he (the turn of meaning is, that the safety of the city was found in himself, as the embodiment of wisdom) the city (with את emphatic, which the LXX. notice by the rendering, δ ι α σώσῃ αὐτὸς τ ὴ ν πόλιν) in his wisdom; and a man (not exactly ‘humanity,’ which we have seen would require the article, but ‘man’ as representing the individuals generally) did not remember (the verb follows the nominative), with respect to that man (את, with the article, which the LXX. notice by σὺν, with a genitive! but in reality the genitive is governed by the verb, σὺν being adverbial), the poor one, even that same. (The shade of meaning given by the article is, that mankind, as a rule, do not adequately remember, and so neither reward, wisdom when associated with poverty. ‘The poor inventor and his sorrows,’ have passed into a proverb.)
16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
Yet I should say myself that wisdom was a real good, and better than strength, yet the wisdom of the poor working man is despised, and his words just those which are not listened to.