Ecclesiastes 2:16
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.
15 So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.
For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!
17 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
18 I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!
- KJV
- For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
- WEB
- For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory forever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!
- ASV
- For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!
- DARBY
- For there shall be no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; because everything is already forgotten in the days which come. And how dieth the wise even as the fool?
- BLB
- For there is no memory of the wise with the fool, forever, in that already in the days that are coming all will be forgotten. And how a wise one will die like the fool!
- ÅB
- For minnet om den vise vil like så litt vare til evig tid som minnet om dåren; i de kommende dager vil jo alt sammen for lengst være glemt, og må ikke den vise dø like så vel som dåren?
- OTB
- For de vise, som dåren, vil ikke bli husket lenge; i kommende dager vil begge bli glemt. Som dåren, må også de vise dø!
- B1930
- For minnet om den vise vil like så litt vare til evig tid som minnet om dåren; i de kommende dager vil jo alt sammen for lengst være glemt, og må ikke den vise dø like så vel som dåren?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ecclesiastes 1:11
There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
Read in contextMalachi 3:16
At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.
Read in contextExodus 1:8
Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
Read in contextPsalms 88:12
Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
Read in contextHebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Read in contextPsalms 103:16
when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.
Read in context2 Samuel 3:33
And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?
Read in context