Ecclesiastes 2:14

Ecclesiastes 2:14 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
• New International Version (NIV)The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.
• New Living Translation (NLT)For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.

Context of Ecclesiastes 2:14

12So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15Then I said in my heart, "What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?" And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!

Ecclesiastes 2:14 word by word

הֶֽחָכָם֙ עֵינָ֣יו בְּרֹאשׁ֔וֹ וְהַכְּסִ֖יל בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ הוֹלֵ֑ךְ וְיָדַ֣עְתִּי גַם־אָ֔נִי שֶׁמִּקְרֶ֥ה אֶחָ֖ד יִקְרֶ֥ה אֶת־כֻּלָּֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The wise man’sחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
• eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• in his headרֹאשׁrô'sh · headH7218
• but the foolכְּסִילkesîyl · foolH3684
• walkethהָלַךְhâlak · to go: walkH1980
• in darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822
• and I myself perceivedיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• also that oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• eventמִקְרֶהmiqreh · accidentH4745
• happenethקָרָהqârâh · to meetH7136

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:14

• Ecclesiastes 8:1Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
• Ecclesiastes 10:2A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left.
• Proverbs 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving.
• Proverbs 17:24The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
• 1 John 2:11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
• Ecclesiastes 9:1But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him.
• Psalms 19:10More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
• Psalms 49:10For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14The wise man's eyes, etc. - Well expressed by Choheleth: - "The wise are circumspect, maturely weigh The consequence of what they undertake, Good ends propose, and fittest means apply To accomplish their designs." But the fool walketh in darkness - "But fools, deprived Of reason's guidance, or in darkness grope, Or, unreflecting like a frantic man, Who on the brink of some steep precipice Attempts to run a race with heedless steps, Rush to their own…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-17Verses 12-17 Solomon found that knowledge and prudence were preferable to ignorance and folly, though human wisdom and knowledge will not make a man happy. The most learned of men, who dies a stranger to Christ Jesus, will perish equally with the most ignorant; and what good can commendations on earth do to the body in the grave, or the soul in hell? And the spirits of just men made perfect cannot want them. So that if this were all, we might be led to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-14wisdom exceeds folly: Wisdom is useful because it helps navigate life successfully. However, it cannot prevent death or give life meaning (Ecclesiastes 2:15–16).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1413-14. (Pr 17:24). The worldly "wise" man has good sense in managing his affairs, skill and taste in building and planting, and keeps within safe and respectable bounds in pleasure, while the "fool" is wanting in these respects ("darkness," equivalent to fatal error, blind infatuation), yet one event, death, happens to both (Job 21:26).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:14

• Death
• Man
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Gather
• Laughter
• Chance
• Event
• Fool; Folly
• Hap; Haply
• Happen
• Synagogue, the Great

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