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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.

Context of Ecclesiastes 2:21

19And 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. 20So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 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. 22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? 23All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.

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 hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
• 2 Chronicles 31:20This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God.
• 2 Chronicles 33:2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.
• 2 Chronicles 34:2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
• 2 Chronicles 35:18The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem.
• 2 Chronicles 36:5Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.
• Jeremiah 22:15“Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all 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