Ecclesiastes 9:3

Ecclesiastes 9:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
• English Standard Version (ESV)This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
• New King James Version (NKJV)This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
• New Living Translation (NLT)It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.

Context of Ecclesiastes 9:3

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. 2All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good, so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them. This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! 5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.

Ecclesiastes 9:3 word by word

זֶ֣ה׀ רָ֗ע בְּכֹ֤ל אֲשֶֽׁר־נַעֲשָׂה֙ תַּ֣חַת הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ כִּֽי־מִקְרֶ֥ה אֶחָ֖ד לַכֹּ֑ל וְגַ֣ם לֵ֣ב בְּֽנֵי־הָ֠אָדָם מָלֵא־רָ֨ע וְהוֹלֵל֤וֹת בִּלְבָבָם֙ בְּחַיֵּיהֶ֔ם וְאַחֲרָ֖יו אֶל־הַמֵּתִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• an evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• that are doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• under the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• oneאֶחָד'echâd · oneH259
• eventמִקְרֶהmiqreh · accidentH4745
• unto all: yea, also the heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
• of the sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of menאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• is fullמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• of evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• and madnessהוֹלֵלָהhôlêlâh · madnessH1947
• in their heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• while they liveחַיִּיםchay · lifeH2416
• and afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• to the deadמוּתmûth · to dieH4191

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 9:3

• Ecclesiastes 8:11When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.
• Genesis 6:5The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
• Genesis 8:21The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
• Job 15:16how much less mortals, who are vile and corrupt, who drink up evil like water!
• Psalms 51:5Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
• Jeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
• Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
• Mark 7:21For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,
• Romans 1:29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
• Ecclesiastes 1:17Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 7:25So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.
• Luke 6:11But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
• Luke 15:17“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!
• Acts 26:11Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.
• 2 Peter 2:16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
• Ecclesiastes 12:7and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 9:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3The heart of the sons of men is full of evil - No wonder then that the curse of God should be frequent in the earth.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Compare Ecclesiastes 8:11. The seeming indiscriminateness of the course of events tends to encourage evil-disposed men in their folly.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3When authorities delay punishments, including death, people may continue their reckless behavior and increase their wrongdoing and foolishness.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Translate, "There is an evil above all (evils) that are done," &c., namely, that not only "there is one event to all," but "also the heart of the sons of men" makes this fact a reason for "madly" persisting in "evil while they live, and after that," &c., sin is "madness." the dead--(Pr 2:18; 9:18).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 9:3

• Death
• Depravity of Man
• Heart

In the dictionaries

• Event
• Evil
• Madness
• Remember
• Reward
• Chance
• Hap; Haply
• Psalms, Book of
• Synagogue, the Great
• Wisdom

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 9

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings