פּירוש אויף קהלת 9:14

“This also” [9:14]. I also saw a small city and a great and strong king came and besieged the city. There were few people in the city and a poor wise man came and protected the whole city with his wisdom. The wise man was as nothing because he was poor. I thought to myself that wisdom is better than strength. All the people of this city considered the poor man as insignificant and now he protected them. The Midrash says that he compared the body of the person to a city that is small and has few people in it. These are the organs of the body and a great king wants to conquer the city. This is the evil inclination. All of the organs follow him and a poor wise man in the body, is the good inclination. He is compared to a poor man in that nobody listens to what he has to say, though he is very wise. The same poor wise man protects the body for the world to come.¹³⁵Ecclesiastes Rabbah, 9.14.

“There was a small city, and few men in it, and a great king came against it and surrounded it, and built a great siege upon it” (Ecclesiastes 9:14).
“There was a small city” – this is the world, “and few men in it” – this is the generation of Enosh and the generation of the Flood, “and a great king came against it and surrounded it” – this is the King of kings the Holy One blessed be He, “and built a great siege upon it” – with ambush and subterfuge.