Ecclesiastes 1:11

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

9Things that are happening now will continue to happen in the future. What people have done before, other people will do again. There is nothing truly new anywhere on the earth. 10People may say, ‘Look! Here is something new!’ But really it happened long ago, before we were born. People do not remember things that happened in the past. In the future, people will not remember what has happened either. 12I, the Teacher, ruled Israel as king in Jerusalem. 13I decided to study everything that happens on the earth. I used wisdom to try to understand these things. I realized that God has given people hard work to do, which causes them to suffer.

Ecclesiastes 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.

• no remembranceזִכָּרוֹןzikrôn · memorialH2146
• of formerרִאשׁוֹןri'shôn ri'shôn · first: previousH7223
• that are to comeאַחֲרוֹן'achăryôn 'achărôn · lastH314

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:11

• Ecclesiastes 2:16People forget about wise people as quickly as they forget about fools. One day, nobody will remember any of them. It is true! As fools all have to die, wise people will also die.
• Psalms 9:6Down came the cities of our enemies! You destroyed them for ever. People will just forget them.
• Isaiah 41:22Bring your idols into court. Let them tell us what will happen in future years. Let them tell us what happened in the past. Then we can think about those things. We will understand what happened in the end. Or ask them to tell us about future events!
• Isaiah 42:9Everything that I promised in the past has happened as I said that it would happen. Now I will tell you about new things. Before they start to happen, I will tell you about them.’

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

• Sun
• Vanity
• Synagogue, the Great

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