New International Version
Ecclesiastes 10:14
14and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them?
Ecclesiastes 10:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
- English Standard Version (ESV)A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him?
- New King James Version (NKJV)A fool also multiplies words. No man knows what is to be; Who can tell him what will be after him?
- New Living Translation (NLT)they chatter on and on. No one really knows what is going to happen; no one can predict the future.
Context of Ecclesiastes 10:14
12Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. 13At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness— and fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming— who can tell someone else what will happen after them? 15The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town. 16Woe to the land whose king was a servant and whose princes feast in the morning.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 10Ecclesiastes 10:14 word by word
וְהַסָּכָ֖ל יַרְבֶּ֣ה דְבָרִ֑ים לֹא־יֵדַ֤ע הָאָדָם֙ מַה־שֶׁיִּֽהְיֶ֔ה וַאֲשֶׁ֤ר יִֽהְיֶה֙ מֵֽאַחֲרָ֔יו מִ֖י יַגִּ֥יד לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 10:14
- Ecclesiastes 5:3A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.
- Proverbs 10:19Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.
- Proverbs 15:2The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.
- Job 34:37To his sin he adds rebellion; scornfully he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
- Job 35:16So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:22So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
- Ecclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
- Ecclesiastes 8:7Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
- James 4:13Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 10:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14A man cannot tell what shall be - A foolish babbling man will talk on every subject, though he can say as little on the past, as he can on the future.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Full of words - Confident talking of the future is indicated rather than mere loquacity. Compare James 4:13.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-15Verses 11-15 There is a practice in the East, of charming serpents by music. The babbler's tongue is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison; and contradiction only makes it the more violent. We must find the way to keep him gentle. But by rash, unprincipled, or slanderous talk, he brings open or secret vengeance upon himself. Would we duly consider our own ignorance as to future events, it would cut off many idle words which we foolishly multiply. Fools…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14the fool multiplies words: Fools often speak about nothing important (see Ecclesiastes 5:3; 6:11; Proverbs 10:19; 17:28). who can tell him what will come after him?: Wise people avoid foolish talk and its consequences (see James 4:13–16).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. full of words--(Ec 5:2). a man cannot tell what shall be--(Ec 3:22; 6:12; 8:7; 11:2; Pr 27:1). If man, universally (including the wise man), cannot foresee the future, much less can the fool; his "many words" are therefore futile.Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 10:14
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 10
- 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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries