Tree of Life Version
Ecclesiastes 1:4
4A generation comes, and a generation goes, but the earth remains forever.
Ecclesiastes 1:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
- New International Version (NIV)Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
- English Standard Version (ESV)A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
- New King James Version (NKJV)One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.
Context of Ecclesiastes 1:4
2Futile! Futile! says Kohelet. Completely meaningless! Everything is futile! 3What does a person gain in all his labor that he toils under the sun? A generation comes, and a generation goes, but the earth remains forever. 5The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to the place it rises. 6The wind goes toward the south, and circles around to the north. Round and round it swirls about, ever returning to its circuits.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 1Ecclesiastes 1:4 word by word
דּ֤וֹר הֹלֵךְ֙ וְד֣וֹר בָּ֔א וְהָאָ֖רֶץ לְעוֹלָ֥ם עֹמָֽדֶת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:4
- Ecclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for one during his life—during the few days of his fleeting life—that pass like a shadow? For who can tell a person what happens after him under the sun?
- Genesis 5:3Adam lived 130 years, then fathered a son in his likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
- Genesis 11:20Reu lived 32 years and he fathered Serug.
- Genesis 36:9So these are the genealogies of Esau, the father of Edom in the hill country of Seir.
- Genesis 47:9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourn are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Moreover, the days of the years of my life have not attained the days of the years of the lives of my fathers, in the days of their sojourn.”
- Exodus 1:6Then Joseph died, as did all his brothers and all that generation.
- Exodus 6:16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
- Psalms 89:47How long, Adonai, will You hide Yourself? Forever? Will Your fury keep burning like fire?
- Psalms 90:9For all our days have passed away under Your wrath. We spent our years like a sigh.
- Zechariah 1:5“Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?
- Psalms 102:24He brought down my strength in midcourse. He shortened my days.
- Psalms 104:5He set the earth upon its foundations, so it should not totter forever and ever.
- Psalms 119:90Your faithfulness endures from generation to generation. You established the earth, and it stands.
- Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- 2 Peter 3:10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will melt and disintegrate, and the earth and everything done on it shall be exposed.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4One generation passeth away - Men succeed each other in unceasing generations: but the earth is still the same; it undergoes no change that leads to melioration, or greater perfection. And it will continue the same לעולם leolam, during the whole course of time; till the end of all things arrives.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Vanity is shown in mankind, the elements, and all that moves on earth; the same course is repeated again and again without any permanent result or real progress; and events and people alike are forgotten. Abideth - The apparent permanence of the earth increases by contrast the transitory condition of its inhabitants. Ever - The word does not here absolutely signify “eternity” (compare Ecclesiastes 3:11 note), but a certainly short period (compare Exodus…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-8Verses 4-8 All things change, and never rest. Man, after all his labour, is no nearer finding rest than the sun, the wind, or the current of the river. His soul will find no rest, if he has it not from God. The senses are soon tired, yet still craving what is untried.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Generations come and go, and individual lives often seem to pass without importance.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. earth ... for ever--(Psa 104:5). While the earth remains the same, the generations of men are ever changing; what lasting profit, then, can there be from the toils of one whose sojourn on earth, as an individual, is so brief? The "for ever" is comparative, not absolute (Psa 102:26).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 1:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1
- 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
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Tree of Life Version — © 2015 The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
Commentaries