Ecclesiastes 2:21

Ecclesiastes 2:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
• New International Version (NIV)For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.
• English Standard Version (ESV)because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Context of Ecclesiastes 2:21

19And 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. When 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. 22For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23Because all his days his activity is painful and irritating; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is futility.

Ecclesiastes 2:21 word by word

כִּי־יֵ֣שׁ אָדָ֗ם שֶׁעֲמָל֛וֹ בְּחָכְמָ֥ה וּבְדַ֖עַת וּבְכִשְׁר֑וֹן וּלְאָדָ֞ם שֶׁלֹּ֤א עָֽמַל־בּוֹ֙ יִתְּנֶ֣נּוּ חֶלְק֔וֹ גַּם־זֶ֥ה הֶ֖בֶל וְרָעָ֥ה רַבָּֽה׃Read the interlinear

• Whenכִּיkîy · forH3588
• thereיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• a personאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• whoשֶׁלshel · whichH7945
• has laboredעָמַל‛âmal · to toilH5998
• with wisdomחׇכְמָהchokmâh · wisdomH2451
• knowledgeדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
• skillכִּשְׁרוֹןkishrôn · skillH3788
• givesנָתַןnâthan · to give: putH5414
• legacyחֵ֫לֶקchêleq · portionH2506
• for it; thisזֶהzeh · thisH2088
• tooגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• is futilityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• and a greatרַבrab · manyH7227

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:21

• Ecclesiastes 2:17So 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.
• Ecclesiastes 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
• 2 Chronicles 31:20Hezekiah did this throughout Judah; and he did what was good, right, and true before the Lord his God.
• 2 Chronicles 33:2He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
• 2 Chronicles 34:2He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or the left.
• 2 Chronicles 35:18There had not been a Passover celebrated like it in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet; nor had any of the kings of Israel celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests, the Levites, all Judah and Israel who were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 36:5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem; and he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
• Jeremiah 22:15Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar? Did your father not eat and drink And do justice and righteousness? Then it was well for him.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21For there is a man - Does he not allude to himself? As if he had said, "I have labored to cultivate my mind in wisdom and in science, in knowledge of men and things, and have endeavored to establish equity and dispense justice. And now I find I shall leave all the fruits of my labor to a man that hath not labored therein, and consequently cannot prize what I have wrought." Does he not refer to his son Rehoboam?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. 21labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill: Skill in work shows wisdom (for example, see Exodus 31:1–5). give his portion to a man who has not worked for it: A person with little personal investment tends to waste it or take foolish risks.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. Suppose "there is a man," &c. equity--rather "with success," as the Hebrew is rendered (Ec 11:6), "prosper," though Margin gives "right" [Holden and Maurer]. evil--not in itself, for this is the ordinary course of things, but "evil," as regards the chief good, that one should have toiled so fruitlessly.Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:21

• Industry
• Property
• Vanity
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Gather
• Laughter
• Equity
• 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