GOD GIVES WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, AND HAPPINESS
Key verse: 26
NIV
Wisdom and Folly Are Meaningless
12 Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.(A)
What more can the king’s successor do
than what has already been done?(B)
13 I saw that wisdom(C) is better than folly,(D)
just as light is better than darkness.
14 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.(E)
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”(F)
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;(G)
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.(H)
Like the fool, the wise too must die!(I)
Toil Is Meaningless
17 So 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.(J) 18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.(K) 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?(L) 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. 20 So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. 21 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. 22 What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?(M) 23 All their days their work is grief and pain;(N) even at night their minds do not rest.(O) This too is meaningless.
24 A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink(P) and find satisfaction in their own toil.(Q) This too, I see, is from the hand of God,(R) 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?(S) 26 To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom,(T) knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth(U) to hand it over to the one who pleases God.(V) This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Cross references
- Ecclesiastes 2:12 : S Ecc 1:17
- Ecclesiastes 2:12 : S Ecc 1:9
- Ecclesiastes 2:13 : Ecc 7:19; 9:18
- Ecclesiastes 2:13 : Ecc 7:11-12
- Ecclesiastes 2:14 : Ps 49:10; Ecc 3:19; 6:6; 7:2; 9:3, 11-12
- Ecclesiastes 2:15 : ver 19; Ecc 6:8
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 : S Ps 112:6
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 : S Ecc 1:11
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 : Ps 49:10
- Ecclesiastes 2:17 : S Ecc 1:14
- Ecclesiastes 2:18 : Ps 39:6; 49:10
- Ecclesiastes 2:19 : S ver 15
- Ecclesiastes 2:22 : S Ecc 1:3
- Ecclesiastes 2:23 : S Ecc 1:18
- Ecclesiastes 2:23 : S Ge 3:17; S Job 7:2
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 : ver 3; 1Co 15:32
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 : S ver 1; Ecc 3:22
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 : S Job 2:10; Ecc 3:12-13; 5:17-19; 7:14; 9:7-10; 11:7-10
- Ecclesiastes 2:25 : S Ps 127:2
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 : S Job 9:4
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 : S Job 27:17
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 : S Pr 13:22
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway
ESV
The Vanity of Living Wisely
12 (A)So I turned to consider (B)wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only (C)what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 (D)The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the (E)same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, (F)“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is (G)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. (H)How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for (I)all is vanity and a striving after wind.
The Vanity of Toil
18 I hated (J)all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must (K)leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I (L)turned about and gave my heart up to despair (M)over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 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. 22 What has a man from (N)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For (O)all his days are full of sorrow, and his (P)work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24 (Q)There is nothing better for a person than that he should (R)eat and drink and find enjoyment[a] in his toil. This also, I saw, is (S)from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him[b] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 For to the one who pleases him (T)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given (U)the business of gathering and collecting, (V)only to give to one who pleases God. (W)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 Or and make his soul see good
- Ecclesiastes 2:25 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts apart from me
Cross references
- Ecclesiastes 2:12 : ch. 7:25
- Ecclesiastes 2:12 : See ch. 1:17
- Ecclesiastes 2:12 : ch. 1:9, 10
- Ecclesiastes 2:14 : [Prov. 17:24]
- Ecclesiastes 2:14 : ch. 3:19; 9:2, 3; Ps. 49:10
- Ecclesiastes 2:15 : [ver. 16; ch. 6:8]
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 : ch. 1:11; See ch. 9:5
- Ecclesiastes 2:16 : See ver. 14
- Ecclesiastes 2:17 : [See ver. 11 above]; See ch. 1:14
- Ecclesiastes 2:18 : ch. 1:3
- Ecclesiastes 2:18 : Ps. 39:6; 49:10
- Ecclesiastes 2:20 : ch. 7:25
- Ecclesiastes 2:20 : ch. 1:3
- Ecclesiastes 2:22 : See ch. 1:3
- Ecclesiastes 2:23 : Job 5:7; 14:1
- Ecclesiastes 2:23 : See ch. 1:13
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 : ch. 3:12, 13, 22; 5:18; 8:15; [1 Tim. 6:17]
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 : [ch. 9:7; Luke 12:19; 1 Cor. 15:32]
- Ecclesiastes 2:24 : [ch. 3:13; 5:19]
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 : Job 32:8
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 : [See ver. 7 above]; Gen. 14:14; 15:3
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 : [Job 27:16, 17; Prov. 13:22]
- Ecclesiastes 2:26 : See ch. 1:14
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway
As the Teacher deeply considered wisdom and labor, he understood that both are valuable. At the same time, he also understood that wisdom and labor, without God, are temporary, finite, and powerless in the face of death.
The Teacher contrasted wisdom with madness and folly. Wisdom is better than folly. Wisdom gives a person light to know how to navigate and live life in a broken world. Yet, whether a person has lived with wisdom or has been a fool, both must die (16). Only faith in Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and conquered death through his resurrection, can give us eternal life (Jn 3:16). God’s gift of eternal life permanently solves all of life’s agonies.
Next, the Teacher reflected on his labor. He hated all the things for which he had toiled because he had to leave them to someone who had not labored for them. That person might even be a fool! His labor was grief and pain. He had no control over who would receive the fruit of his labor because he would be dead. This felt completely meaningless.
Happiness and enjoyment are gifts from God. Will you seek him and please him?
Prayer: Father, please allow the reflections of the Teacher to redirect my heart away from myself and to seek and please you.
One Word: Please God
