Ecclesiastes 2:12
10 Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?
13 And I saw that wisdom exceeds folly, just as light exceeds darkness:
14 The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?
- KJV
- And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.
- WEB
- I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly; for what can the king’s successor do? Just that which has been done long ago.
- ASV
- And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what [can] the man [do] that cometh after the king? [even] that which hath been done long ago.
- DARBY
- And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly; for what shall the man [do] that cometh after the king? that which hath already been done.
- BLB
- And I turned to look at wisdom and madness and folly. For what [is] the man who comes after the king—that which already they have done!
- ÅB
- Så gav jeg meg til å se på visdom og på dårskap og uforstand; for hva vil det menneske gjøre som kommer etter kongen? Det samme som andre har gjort for lenge siden.
- OTB
- Så vendte jeg mine tanker til å overveie visdom, galskap og dårskap. Hva mer kan etterfølgeren til kongen gjøre enn det som allerede er gjort?
- B1930
- Så gav jeg mig til å se på visdom og på dårskap og uforstand; for hvad vil det menneske gjøre som kommer efter kongen? Det samme som andre har gjort for lenge siden.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ecclesiastes 1:17
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 7:25
I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 1:9–10
What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Read in context