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Ecclesiastes 2:15

in Ecclesiastes 2

So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so will it happen even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then said I in my heart, that this also is vanity.

KJV

Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

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This verse in Ecclesiastes 2

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
Then said I in my heart, as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me,.... The wisest of kings, and the wisest of men; that is, he looked over things in his mind, and considered what had befallen him, or what were his present circumstances, or what would be his case, especially at death; and said within himself, the same things happen to me, who have attained to the highest pitch of wisdom, as to the most errant fool; and therefore no true happiness can be in this sort of wisdom.

This site's exposition

why was I then more wise

on Ecclesiastes 2:15-17

The finding turns personal: as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me, and why was I then more wise, the king's own advantage collapsing under the same death that takes the fool. No remembrance of the wise outlasts the fool's either, since the days to come shall all be forgotten and both alike simply die. Therefore I hated life is the Preacher's own word for the discovery, grief filed under the sun where the work he built brings him grief rather than rest. Bridges reads the hatred as directed at life's disappointed expectation, not at life itself or at the Giver of it.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

As it happeneth to the fool - Literally, “According as the event is to the fool, it happens to me, even me.” There is a peculiar beauty and emphasis in the repetition of me. Having pointed out the advantages that wisdom has over folly, he takes this opportunity of reminding us of the danger of trusting too much to it, by showing that it is equally subject to the common accidents of life; and, therefore, incapable of making us completely happy.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאָמַ֨רְתִּֽיand I said

    veamartiH559 →5305 times

  • אֲנִ֜יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • בְּלִבִּ֗יin heart my

    belibiH3820 →595 times

  • כְּמִקְרֵ֤הlike [the] fate of

    kemikrehH4745 →10 times

  • הַכְּסִיל֙the fool

    hakesilH3684 →70 times

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571 →769 times

  • אֲנִ֣יme

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • יִקְרֵ֔נִיit will happen to me

    yikreniH7136 →27 times

  • וְלָ֧מָּהand <to> why?

    velamahH4100 →752 times

  • חָכַ֛מְתִּיhave I become wise

    chakhamtiH2449 →27 times

  • אֲנִ֖יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • אָ֣זthen

    ʾazH227 →

  • יוֹתֵ֑רexcessively

    yoterH3148 →9 times

  • וְדִבַּ֣רְתִּיand I said

    vedibartiH1696 →1141 times

  • בְלִבִּ֔יin heart my

    velibiH3820 →595 times

  • שֶׁגַּם־that also

    shegam-H1571 →769 times

  • זֶ֖הthis

    zehH2088 →1180 times

  • הָֽבֶל׃[is] futility

    havelH1892 →73 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Ecclesiastes 1:18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.8 worksEcclesiastes 6:8What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?5 worksEcclesiastes 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.3 worksEcclesiastes 1:2“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”3 worksEcclesiastes 1:16I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”2 works1 Kings 3:12behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has never been nor will ever be another like you.2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ecclesiastes 2:16For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!2 worksEcclesiastes 11:8So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.2 worksEcclesiastes 2:1I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.2 worksEcclesiastes 7:25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Kings 3:12

    behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has never been nor will ever be another like you.

    it leads to

    • 1 John 5:14–15

      And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

    • Ecclesiastes 1:16

      I said to myself, “Behold, I have grown and increased in wisdom beyond all those before me who were over Jerusalem, and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

    • Matthew 12:42

      The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One…

    • 1 Kings 5:12

      And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised him. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.

    • 1 Kings 10:23–24

      So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

  • Through

    Ecclesiastes 1:2

    “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 39:5–6

      You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 144:4

      Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

    • Romans 8:20

      For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies2

On this verse

On this chapter

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read Ecclesiastes 2 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.

Read on in Ecclesiastes 2 →