Christian Standard Bible
Ecclesiastes 1:11
11There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them.
Ecclesiastes 1:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
- New International Version (NIV)No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
- New King James Version (NKJV)There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.
Context of Ecclesiastes 1:11
9What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. 10Can one say about anything, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of those who came before; and of those who will come after there will also be no remembrance by those who follow them. 12I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 1Ecclesiastes 1:11 word by word
אֵ֥ין זִכְר֖וֹן לָרִאשֹׁנִ֑ים וְגַ֨ם לָאַחֲרֹנִ֜ים שֶׁיִּהְי֗וּ לֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֤ה לָהֶם֙ זִכָּר֔וֹן עִ֥ם שֶׁיִּהְי֖וּ לָאַחֲרֹנָֽה׃ פRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:11
- Ecclesiastes 2:16For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise person dies just like the fool?
- Psalms 9:6The enemy has come to eternal ruin; you have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished.
- Isaiah 41:22“Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell us the past events, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome, or tell us the future.
- Isaiah 42:9The past events have indeed happened. Now I declare new events; I announce them to you before they occur.”
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11There is no remembrance - I believe the general meaning to be this: Multitudes of ancient transactions have been lost, because they were not recorded; and of many that have been recorded, the records are lost. And this will be the case with many others which are yet to occur. How many persons, not much acquainted with books, have supposed that certain things were their own discoveries, which have been written or printed even long before they were born!…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Things - Rather, men.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-11Verses 9-11 Men's hearts and their corruptions are the same now as in former times; their desires, and pursuits, and complaints, still the same. This should take us from expecting happiness in the creature, and quicken us to seek eternal blessings. How many things and persons in Solomon's day were thought very great, yet there is no remembrance of them now!Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11There is no remembrance: We cannot rely on others to remember what we believe we have accomplished.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. The reason why some things are thought "new," which are not really so, is the imperfect record that exists of preceding ages among their successors. those that ... come after--that is, those that live still later than the "things, rather the persons or generations, Ec 1:4, with which this verse is connected, the six intermediate verses being merely illustrations of Ec 1:4 [Weiss], that are to come" (Ec 2:16; 9:5).Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries