Ecclesiastes 4:16
in Ecclesiastes 4There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There was no end of all the people, even of all them over whom he was: yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
KJV
There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThere is no end of all the people - This is supposed to refer to the multitudes of people who hail the advent and accession of a new sovereign; for, as Suetonius remarks, A plerisque adorari solem orientem, “Most people adore the rising sun.” But when the new king becomes old, very few regard him; and perhaps he lives long enough to be as much despised by the very persons who before were ready to worship him. This is also a miserable vanity.
This site's exposition
Better is a poor but wise youth
on Ecclesiastes 4:13-16
The last case sets a poor but wise youth against an old but foolish king. The youth comes from the prison to the kingship, a reversal Scripture records in Joseph's rise. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later, so the wisest rise ends futile.
This site's exposition
There is no limit
Clarke quotes Suetonius: most people adore the rising sun. When the new king grows old, Clarke adds, few regard him. Wesley counts three generations in the verse, the crowd, those before them and those who come later, all with the same inclinations.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Better is a poor but wise youth, than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take care of himself; because from the prison-house he emerged to reign, while even in his reign he was born poor. I saw all the living that wander beneath the sun throng to the succeeding youth that steps into his place. There is no end to the entire nation, to all that was before them; similarly the ones that come later will not rejoice in him. For this too is futility and a vexation of the spirit."
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
And the reason why they follow the youth, having abandoned the old man, is because the foolish old man did good to no one; and the following text implies this: "Infinite is the number of the people of all who were before him," that is, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
No end - This humour of the common people hath no end, but passes from one generation to another. Before them - Before the present generation. And so here are three generations of people noted, the authors of the present change, and their parents, and their children; and all are observed to have the same inclinations.
The Prevalence of Oppression. 1 So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 2 Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:95%@v1-3
There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them,.... Before the present generation, the living that walked under the sun; a vast number they were that lived before them, and they were of the same restless temper and disposition; changeable in their affection and behaviour towards their governors; no end of their number, nor any stable affection for, nor settled satisfaction in, their rulers; but this itch of novelty, of having new princes over them, went from age to age, from generation to generation.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Notwithstanding their now worshipping the rising sun, the heir-apparent, I reflected that "there were no bounds, no stability (2Sa 15:6; 20:1), no check on the love of innovation, of all that have been before them," that is, the past generation; so also they that come after--that is, the next generation, shall not rejoice in him--namely, Rehoboam.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| קֵ֣ץ | ketz | [is] an end | H7093 → | 67 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֗ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | |
| לְכֹ֤ל | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | [those] whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָיָה֙ | hayah | he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם | lifneihem | <to> before them | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| גַּ֥ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הָאַחֲרוֹנִ֖ים | haacharonim | the subsequent [people] | H314 → | 51 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׂמְחוּ־ | yismechu- | they will rejoice | H8055 → | 155 times |
| ב֑וֹ | vo | in <the> him | ||
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| זֶ֥ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הֶ֖בֶל | hevel | [is] futility | H1892 → | 73 times |
| וְרַעְי֥וֹן | vera'yon | and a striving of | H7475 → | 3 times |
| רֽוּחַ׃ | ruach | wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
אֵֽין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
קֵ֣ץ[is] an end
ketzH7093 →67 times
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֗םthe people
haamH5971 →
לְכֹ֤לto all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־[those] whom
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הָיָה֙he was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם<to> before them
lifneihemH6440 →2123 times
גַּ֥םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
הָאַחֲרוֹנִ֖יםthe subsequent [people]
haacharonimH314 →51 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׂמְחוּ־they will rejoice
yismechu-H8055 →155 times
ב֑וֹin <the> him
vo
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
זֶ֥הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הֶ֖בֶל[is] futility
hevelH1892 →73 times
וְרַעְי֥וֹןand a striving of
vera'yonH7475 →3 times
רֽוּחַ׃wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Ecclesiastes 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.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:11
Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 2:17
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over…
- Ecclesiastes 6:9
Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 2:11
Through
2 Samuel 19:9And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 15:14
And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap…
- Genesis 3:12–13
And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
- 2 Samuel 8:1–14
Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines.
- 2 Samuel 15:14
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:17So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
it leads to
- Jonah 4:8
As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me…
- Jonah 4:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 4; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.