Ecclesiastes 10:10

If the iron be blunt ,.... With which a man cleaves wood: the axe, made of iron:

and he do not whet the edge ; with some proper instrument to make it sharper, that it may cut the more easily;

then must he put to more strength ; he must give a greater blow, strike the harder, and use more force; and yet it may not be sufficient, or; it may be to no purpose, and he himself may be in the greatest danger of being hurt; as such are who push things with all their might and main, without judgment and discretion;

but wisdom is profitable to direct ; this is the "excellency" of wisdom, that it puts a man in the right way of doing things, and of doing them right; it directs him to take the best methods, and pursue the best ways and means of doing things, both for his own good and the good of others; and so it is better than strength, Ecclesiastes 9:16 .