Ecclesiastes 2:21

Christian Standard Bible ®

When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored therein. This also is vanity and a great evil.

King James Version
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
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 American Standard Bible
When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.

New Century Version
People can work hard using all their wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but they will die, and other people will get the things for which they worked. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. This is also unfair and useless.

Amplified Bible
For there is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, yet gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it. This too is vanity and a great evil.

World English Bible
For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored therein. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For there is a man whose trauaile is in wisdome, and in knowledge and in equitie: yet to a man that hath not trauailed herein, shal he giue his portion: this also is vanitie and a great griefe.

Legacy Standard Bible
When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, then he gives his portion to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

Berean Standard Bible
When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

Contemporary English Version
When we use our wisdom, knowledge, and skill to get what we own, why do we have to leave it to someone who didn't work for it? This is senseless and wrong.

Complete Jewish Bible
Here is a man whose work is done with wisdom, knowledge and skill; yet he has to leave it to someone who has put no work into it. This is not only pointless, but a great evil.

Darby Translation
For there is a man whose labour hath been with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill, and who leaveth it to a man that hath not laboured therein, to be his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Easy-to-Read Version
People can work hard using all their wisdom and knowledge and skill. But they will die and other people will get the things they worked for. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. That makes me very sad. It is also not fair and is senseless.

George Lamsa Translation
There is a man who labors with wisdom and knowledge and success; and yet he leaves his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great misfortune.

Good News Translation
You work for something with all your wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then you have to leave it all to someone who hasn't had to work for it. It is useless, and it isn't right!

Lexham English Bible
For although a person may toil with great wisdom and skill, he must leave his reward to someone who has not toiled for it. This also is vanity and a great calamity.

Literal Translation
When there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with advantage; yet he shall give it to a man who has not labored with it, for his share; this also is vanity and a great evil.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
for so moch as a man shulde weery him self with wy?dome, with vnderstondinge and opportunite, and yet be fayne to leaue his labours vnto another, yt neuer swett for them. This is also a vayne thinge and a greate misery.

American Standard Version
For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Bible in Basic English
Because there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

King James Version (1611)
For there is a man whose labour is in wisedome and in knowledge, and in equitie: yet to a man that hath not laboured therein, shall hee leaue it for his portion; This also is vanitie, and a great euill.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Forsomuch as a man shoulde weery hym selfe with wisdome, with vnderstandyng and oportunitie, and yet be fayne to leaue his labours vnto another that neuer sweat for them: This is also a vayne thyng, and great miserie.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For there is such a man that his labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in fortitude; yet this man shall give his portion to one who has not laboured therein. This is also vanity and great evil.

English Revised Version
For there is a man whose labour is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For whi whanne another man trauelith in wisdom, and techyng, and bisynesse, he leeueth thingis getun to an idel man; and therfor this is vanyte, and greet yuel.

Update Bible Version
For there is man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet to man that has not labored therein he shall leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Webster's Bible Translation
For there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored in it, shall he leave it [for] his portion. This also [is] vanity and a great evil.

New English Translation
For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice!

New King James Version
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
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.

New Life Bible
For here is a man who has worked with wisdom, much learning, and an able hand. Yet he must give this to one who has not worked for it. This also is for nothing, and very wrong.

New Revised Standard
because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For here is a man, whose toil hath been with wisdom and with knowledge and with skill, - yet, to a man who hath not toiled therein, shall he leave it as his portion, even this, was vanity and a great vexation.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For when a man laboureth in wisdom, and knowledge, and carefulness, he leaveth what he hath gotten to an idle man: so this also is vanity, and a great evil.

Revised Standard Version
because sometimes a man who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by a man who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Young's Literal Translation
For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity, and to a man who hath not laboured therein he giveth it -- his portion! Even this [is] vanity and a great evil.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. ¹⁸I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. ²⁰So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun. ²¹When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. ²²For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? ²³For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile. ²⁴There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, ²⁵because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him? ²⁶For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

whose: Ecclesiastes 2:17, Ecclesiastes 2:18, Ecclesiastes 9:18, 2 Chronicles 31:20, 2 Chronicles 31:21, 2 Chronicles 33:2-9, 2 Chronicles 34:2, 2 Chronicles 35:18, 2 Chronicles 36:5-10, Jeremiah 22:15, Jeremiah 22:17

leave: Heb. give

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:20 - life Psalms 39:6 - surely Psalms 49:10 - leave Ecclesiastes 1:2 - General Ecclesiastes 4:4 - This is Ecclesiastes 11:8 - All that Jeremiah 2:13 - broken cisterns

Cross-References

Genesis 15:12
As the sun was setting, a deep sleep came over Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

1 Samuel 26:12
So David took the spear and the water jug by Saul’s head, and they went their way. No one saw them, no one knew, and no one woke up; they all remained asleep because a deep sleep from the Lord came over them.

Job 4:13
Among unsettling thoughts from visions in the night,when deep sleep comes over men,

Job 33:15
In a dream, a vision in the night,when deep sleep comes over peopleas they slumber on their beds,

Proverbs 19:15
Laziness induces deep sleep,and a lazy person will go hungry.

Daniel 8:18
While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For there is a man whose labour [is] in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity,.... Who does all he does, in natural, civil, and religious things, in the state, in his family, and the world, and whatsoever business he is engaged, in the wisest and best manner, with the utmost honesty and integrity, according to all the rules of wisdom and knowledge, and of justice and equity; meaning himself; the Midrash interprets this of God;

yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it [for] his portion; to his son, heir, and successor; who never took any pains, or joined with him, in acquiring the least part of it; and yet all comes into his hands, as his possession and inheritance: the Targum interprets this of a man that dies without children; and so others z understand it of his leaving his substance to strangers, and not to his children.

This also [is] vanity, and a great evil; not anything sinful and criminal, but vexatious and distressing.

z R. Joseph Titatzak in loc.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Solomon having found that wisdom and folly agree in being subject to vanity, now contrasts one with the other Ecclesiastes 2:13. Both are brought under vanity by events Ecclesiastes 2:14 which come on the wise man and the feel alike from without - death and oblivion Ecclesiastes 2:16, uncertainty Ecclesiastes 2:19, disappointment Ecclesiastes 2:21 - all happening by an external law beyond human control. Amidst this vanity, the good (see Ecclesiastes 2:10 note) that accrues to man, is the pleasure felt Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 in receiving God’s gifts, and in working with and for them.

Ecclesiastes 2:12

What can the man do ... - i. e., “What is any man - in this study of wisdom and folly - after one like me, who, from my position, have had such special advantages (see Ecclesiastes 1:16, and compare Ecclesiastes 2:25) for carrying it on? That which man did of old he can but do again: he is not likely to add to the result of my researches, nor even to equal them.” Some hold that the “man” is a reference to Solomon’s successor - not in his inquiries, but in his kingdom, i. e., Jeroboam.

Ecclesiastes 2:14

Event - Or, “hap” Ruth 2:3. The verb from which it is derived seems in this book to refer especially to death. The word does not mean chance (compare Ecclesiastes 9:1-2), independent of the ordering of Divine Providence: the Gentile notion of “mere chance,” or “blind fate,” is never once contemplated by the writer of this book, and it would be inconsistent with his tenets of the unlimited power and activity of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:16

Seeing that ... - Compare Ecclesiastes 1:11. Some render, “as in time past, so in days to come, all will be forgotten;” others, “because in the days to come all will have been long before forgotten.”

Ecclesiastes 2:17

I hated life - Compare this expression, extorted from Solomon by the perception of the vanity of his wisdom and greatness, with Romans 8:22-23. The words of Moses Numbers 11:15, and of Job Job 3:21; Job 6:9, are scarcely less forcible. With some people, this feeling is a powerful motive to conversion Luke 14:26.

Ecclesiastes 2:19

Labour - Compare Ecclesiastes 2:4-8.

Ecclesiastes 2:20

I went about - i. e., I turned from one course of action to another.

Ecclesiastes 2:23

Are sorrows ... grief - Rather, sorrows and grief are his toil. See Ecclesiastes 1:13.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

Nothing better for a man, than that ... - literally, no good in man that etc. The one joy of working or receiving, which, though it be transitory, a man recognizes as a real good, even that is not in the power of man to secure for himself: that good is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

The doctrine of retribution, or, the revealed fact that God is the moral Governor of the world, is here stated for the first time (compare Ecclesiastes 3:15, Ecclesiastes 3:17 ff) in this book.

This also is vanity - Not only the travail of the sinner. Even the best gifts of God, wisdom, knowledge, and joy, so far as they are given in this life, are not permanent, and are not always (see Ecclesiastes 9:11) efficacious for the purpose for which they appear to be given.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. For there is a man — Does he not allude to himself? As if he had said, "I have laboured to cultivate my mind in wisdom and in science, in knowledge of men and things, and have endeavoured to establish equity and dispense justice. And now I find I shall leave all the fruits of my labour to a man that hath not laboured therein, and consequently cannot prize what I have wrought." Does he not refer to his son Rehoboam?