Ecclesiastes 2:19

Ecclesiastes 2:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
• New International Version (NIV)And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.
• English Standard Version (ESV)and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.

Context of Ecclesiastes 2:19

17Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 18I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. 20So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun. 21When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong.

Ecclesiastes 2:19 word by word

וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֗עַ הֶֽחָכָ֤ם יִהְיֶה֙ א֣וֹ סָכָ֔ל וְיִשְׁלַט֙ בְּכָל־עֲמָלִ֔י שֶֽׁעָמַ֥לְתִּי וְשֶׁחָכַ֖מְתִּי תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ גַּם־זֶ֖ה הָֽבֶל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And who knowethיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• whether he shall be a wiseחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
• or a foolסָכָלsâkâl · foolH5530
• yet shall he have ruleשָׁלַטshâlaţ · to domineerH7980
• over all my labourעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• wherein I have labouredעָמַל‛âmal · to toilH5998
• and wherein I have shewed myself wiseחָכַםchâkam · be wiseH2449
• under the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• also vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:19

• Ecclesiastes 3:22I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?
• 1 Kings 12:14and spoke to them according to the young men’s advice: “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.”
• 1 Kings 14:25In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 10:13Then the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the elders’ advice
• 2 Chronicles 12:9So King Shishak of Egypt went to war against Jerusalem. He seized the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and the treasuries of the royal palace. He took everything. He took the gold shields that Solomon had made.
• Ecclesiastes 9:13I have observed that this also is wisdom under the sun, and it is significant to me:
• Luke 16:8“The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people.
• James 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
• James 3:17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19A wise man or a fool? - Alas! Solomon, the wisest of all men, made the worst use of his wisdom, had three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines, and yet left but one son behind him, to possess his estates and his throne, and that one was the silliest of fools!Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-26Verses 18-26 Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from the creature; but Solomon came to this at length. The world is a vale of tears, even to those that have much of it. See what fools they are, who make themselves drudges to the world, which affords a man nothing better than subsistence for the body. And the utmost he can attain in this respect is to allow himself a sober, cheerful use thereof, according to his rank and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19Foolish and destructive successors pose a greater threat to wise accomplishments than wise successors do. However, since the Teacher could not predict the type of successors he would have, his accomplishments felt meaningless to him. Solomon's immediate successor, his son Rehoboam, turned out to be foolish (see 1 Kings 12:1–20).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-1918-19. One hope alone was left to the disappointed worldling, the perpetuation of his name and riches, laboriously gathered, through his successor. For selfishness is mostly at the root of worldly parents' alleged providence for their children. But now the remembrance of how he himself, the piously reared child of David, had disregarded his father's dying charge (1Ch 28:9), suggested the sad misgivings as to what Rehoboam, his son by an idolatrous…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:19

• Heir
• Industry
• Inheritance
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

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Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2

• 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
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings