the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Ecclesiastes 2:14
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For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark." Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
Wise people see where they are going, but fools walk around in the dark. Yet I saw that both wise and foolish people end the same way.
The wise man's eyes [are] in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness -- and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I know that [in the end] one fate happens to them both.
The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.
The iyen of a wijs man ben in his heed, a fool goith in derknessis; and Y lernede, that o perisching was of euer either.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
Wisdom is like having two good eyes; foolishness leaves you in the dark. But wise or foolish, we all end up the same.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.
The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet the same fate awaits them all.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness; but I myself also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
Wise people use their minds like eyes to see where they are going. But for fools, it is as if they are walking in the dark. I also saw that fools and wise people both end the same way.
The wise man, his eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness. And I also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
The wise mans eyes are in his head, but the foole walketh in darknes: and I my selfe perceiued also that one euent happeneth to them all.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I know that one thing will happen to both of them.
The wise have eyes in their head, but fools walk in darkness. Yet I perceived that the same fate befalls all of them.
For the wise mans eyes are in his head, but the foole walketh in darknes: yet I know also that the same condition falleth to them all.
The wise mans eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness; and I myself perceived also that one misfortune happens to them all.
The wise can see where they are going, and fools cannot." But I also know that the same fate is waiting for us all.
As for the wise man, his eyes, are in his head, whereas, the dullard, in darkness, doth walk, - but, I myself, knew that, one destiny, happeneth to them, all.
The eyes of a wise man are in his head: the fool walketh in darkness: and I learned that they were to die both alike.
The wise man has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I perceived that one fate comes to all of them.
For a wise man hath his eyes in his head, but the foole goeth in darknesse: I perceaued also that they both had one ende.
The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in darkness: and I perceived, even I, that one event shall happen to them all.
The wise person has eyes in his head,but the fool walks in darkness.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness -- and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
The wise man can see where he is walking, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and I also know that one event happens with all of them.
The wise! -- his eyes [are] in his head, and the fool in darkness is walking, and I also knew that one event happeneth with them all;
For a wyse man beareth his eyes aboute in his heade, but the foole goeth in the darknesse. I perceaued also that they both had one ende.
The wise person's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both.
The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that the fate of one becomes the fate of all of them.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
wise: Ecclesiastes 8:1, Ecclesiastes 10:2, Ecclesiastes 10:3, Proverbs 14:8, Proverbs 17:24, 1 John 2:11
one: Ecclesiastes 9:1-3, Ecclesiastes 9:11, Ecclesiastes 9:16, Psalms 19:10, Psalms 49:10
Reciprocal: Exodus 10:21 - darkness Psalms 82:5 - walk Ecclesiastes 6:8 - what hath the wise Ecclesiastes 8:5 - a wise Ecclesiastes 8:14 - there be just Ecclesiastes 9:2 - alike John 11:10 - General
Cross-References
From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River—
His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives.
Get up now, resume your journey, heading for the Amorite hill country, to all its areas including the arid country, the highlands, the Shephelah, the Negev, and the coastal plain—all of Canaan and Lebanon as far as the Great River, that is, the Euphrates.
Every place you set your foot will be yours; your border will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the River (that is, the Euphrates) as far as the Mediterranean Sea.
On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was beside the great river, the Tigris.
saying to the sixth angel, the one holding the trumpet, "Set free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!"
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The wise man's eyes [are] in his head,.... And so are the eyes of every man; but the sense is, he makes use of them, he looks about him, and walks circumspectly; he takes heed to his goings, he foresees the evil, and avoids it; or the danger he is exposed unto, and guards against it. Some understand it, in a more spiritual and evangelical sense, of Christ, who is the head of the body the church, and of every true believer; of everyone that is wise unto salvation, whose eyes are on him alone for righteousness, salvation, and eternal life; or on whom Christ's eyes are; who is said to have seven eyes, with which he guides, guards, and protects his people;
but the fool walketh in darkness; his eyes are to the ends of the earth; he walks incautiously, without any circumspection or guard; he knows not where he is, nor where he is going, nor where he shall set his foot next, nor at what he may stumble; wherefore a wise man is to be preferred to a fool, as wisdom is to folly. The Midrash interprets the wise man of Abraham, and the fool of Nimrod;
and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all; the wise man and the fool; or, "but I myself perceived" w, c. though it is allowed that a wise man is better than a fool yet this also must be owned, which Solomon's experience proved, and every man's does, that the same things befall wise men and fools; they are liable to the same diseases of body, and disasters of life; to poverty and distress, to loss of estate, children, and friends, and to death itself.
w וירעתי "sed agnovi", Junius Tremellius, Piscator "sed cognovi", Rambachius; "but I saw", Broughton.
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 14. The wise man's eyes, c. — Well expressed by Choheleth: -
"The wise are circumspect, maturely weigh
The consequence of what they undertake,
Good ends propose, and fittest means apply
To accomplish their designs."
But the fool walketh in darkness —
"But fools, deprived
Of reason's guidance, or in darkness grope,
Or, unreflecting like a frantic man,
Who on the brink of some steep precipice
Attempts to run a race with heedless steps,
Rush to their own perdition."
One event happeneth to them all. —
"Though wide the difference, what has human pride
To boast? Even I myself too plainly saw,
That one event to both alike befalls
To various accidents of life exposed,
Without distinction: nor can wisdom screen
From dangers, disappointments, grief, and pain."
