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

19Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile! 20So I began to despair about all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so hard on earth. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice! 22What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth? 23For all day long his work produces pain and frustration, and even at night his mind cannot relax! This also is futile!

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• For there isיֵשׁyêsh · thereH3426
• a manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• whose labourעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• in wisdomחׇכְמָהchokmâh · wisdomH2451
• and in knowledgeדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
• and in equityכִּשְׁרוֹןkishrôn · skillH3788
• that hath not labouredעָמַל‛âmal · to toilH5998
• therein shall he leaveנָתַןnâthan · to give: putH5414
• his portionחֵ֫לֶקchêleq · portionH2506
• vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• and a greatרַבrab · manyH7227
• evilרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: evilH7451

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:21

• Ecclesiastes 2:17So I loathed life because what happens on earth seems awful to me; for all the benefits of wisdom are futile – like chasing the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner can destroy much that is good.
• 2 Chronicles 31:20This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what the Lord his God considered good and right and faithful.
• 2 Chronicles 33:2He did evil in the sight of the Lord and committed the same horrible sins practiced by the nations whom the Lord drove out ahead of the Israelites.
• 2 Chronicles 34:2He did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.
• 2 Chronicles 35:18A Passover like this had not been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had observed a Passover like the one celebrated by Josiah, the priests, the Levites, all the people of Judah and Israel who were there, and the residents of Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 36:5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.
• Jeremiah 22:15Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. He did what was just and right. So things went well with 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