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

17So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. 18So I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is futility. 20Therefore I completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.

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

• And whoמִיmîy · who?H4310
• knowsיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• whether he will be wiseחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
• orאוֹ'ô 'av · orH176
• a foolסָכָלsâkâl · foolH5530
• Yet he will haveשָׁלַטshâlaţ · to domineerH7980
• allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• the fruitעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• for whichשֶׁלshel · whichH7945
• I have laboredעָמַל‛âmal · to toilH5998
• by actingחָכַםchâkam · be wiseH2449
• underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
• the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• Thisזֶהzeh · thisH2088
• tooגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• futilityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:19

• Ecclesiastes 3:22I have seen that nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?
• 1 Kings 12:14and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “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 scorpions!”
• 1 Kings 14:25Now it happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak the king of Egypt marched against Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 10:13The king answered them harshly, and King Rehoboam ignored the advice of the elders.
• 2 Chronicles 12:9So Shishak king of Egypt went up against Jerusalem, and he took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything; he even took the gold shields which Solomon had made.
• Ecclesiastes 9:13This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me:
• Luke 16:8And his master complimented the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.
• James 1:17Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
• James 3:17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy.

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

• Wise, Man
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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