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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• 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

12Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? 13I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. 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. 15Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” 16For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!

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? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
• Ecclesiastes 10:2The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
• Proverbs 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.
• Proverbs 17:24A discerning person keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
• 1 John 2:11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
• Ecclesiastes 9:1So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.
• Psalms 19:10They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.
• Psalms 49:10For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving 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