Ecclesiastes 6:12
in Ecclesiastes 6For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For who knoweth what is good for man in his life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
KJV
For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 6
Commentary
11 notes on this verseFor who knoweth what is good for man in this life - Those things which we deem good are often evil. And those which we think evil are often good. So ignorant are we, that we run the greatest hazard in making a choice. It is better to leave ourselves and our concerns in the hands of the Lord, than to keep them in our own. For who can tell a man what shall be after him - Futurity is with God. While he lives, man wishes to know what is before him.
This site's exposition
Whatever exists was named long ago
on Ecclesiastes 6:10-12
More words bring more futility, and the Teacher asks who knows what is good for a man, whose life passes like a shadow. The last question, Who can tell a man what will come after him, states the need the better-than proverbs of chapter 7 take up.
This site's exposition
who knows what is good
Wesley reads the question as uncertainty whether a high or low, rich or poor life is good for a man. Clarke answers that the future belongs to God. Barnes places what will come after him on earth under the sun, in the place a man leaves at death.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Here he calls back a third time from scrutinizing lofty things and inquiring into them, and this, since he has enough to do in knowing his own evils, or common ones. Therefore he says: "What need is there for a man to seek things greater …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The Miseries of Covetousness. 1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v1-3
Who knoweth - No man certainly knows what is better for him here, whether to be high or low, rich or poor. Vain life - Life itself is a vain and uncertain thing, and therefore all things which depend on it must be so too.
For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Their sufferings from the oppressors are more really good for them than cloudless prosperity; sinners are being allowed to fill up their measure of guilt. Retribution in part vindicates God's ways even now. The judgment shall make all clear.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2462: “The Known and the Unknown” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
MAN at his very best is only a man and well might David ask, "What is man?" In part, he is but red earth, as Adam was when he came fresh from his Maker's hands. Solomon tells us, in the 10th verse of this chapter, "That which has been is named already, and it is known that it is man." Whoever has lived and however wise and good and great he may have been, he has only been a man.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2462: “The Known and the Unknown” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
MAN at his very best is only a man and well might David ask, "What is man?" In part, he is but red earth, as Adam was when he came fresh from his Maker's hands. Solomon tells us, in the 10th verse of this chapter, "That which has been is named already, and it is known that it is man." Whoever has lived and however wise and good and great he may have been, he has only been a man. Sum him up, add all together—the beauties of his body, the skill of his mind, even the virtues of his spirit—and what is he, even then, but a man? And man is but vapor which appears for a little while and then vanishes away! He is as thin and airy and unsubstantial as his own breath! He comes and he goes—he is here such a little while that he can scarcely be said to be, for he does but begin to be before he closes his being so far as this world is concerned. As man is as light as vanity, itself, Solomon urges that it is idle and vain for him to attempt to contend with God. He puts it thus in the 10th verse, "Neither may he contend with Him who is mightier than he." It is always unwise to contend with one who is mightier than yourself, but when the disparity is so great as between man and God—the creature of an hour and the self-existent Creator, the poor feeble worm called man and the almighty invincible God—you see at once what folly it is, even, to think of battling with Him.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
After him - i. e., On earth, in his own present sphere of action, after his departure hence (compare Ecc 2:19; Ecc 3:22).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For who knows. For who knows good deeds and what man should do during his life, so that it will bring him goodness in the hereafter.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
For there are many things. With which he occupied himself during his lifetime, such as the games of the kings, [e.g.,] monkeys, elephants and lions. They increased vanity for him, and what remains for him after he dies.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יוֹדֵעַ֩ | yodea' | [is] knowing | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| טּ֨וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| לָֽאָדָ֜ם | laadam | for <the> person | H120 → | 551 times |
| בַּֽחַיִּ֗ים | bachaiyim | in <the> life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| מִסְפַּ֛ר | mispar | [the] number of | H4557 → | 134 times |
| יְמֵי־ | yemei- | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| חַיֵּ֥י | chaiyei | [the] life of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| הֶבְל֖וֹ | hevlo | futility his | H1892 → | 73 times |
| וְיַעֲשֵׂ֣ם | veyaasem | and he spends them | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| כַּצֵּ֑ל | katzel | like <the> shadow | H6738 → | 49 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֙ | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מִֽי־ | mi- | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יַגִּ֣יד | yagid | will he tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לָֽאָדָ֔ם | laadam | to <the> person | H120 → | 551 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יִּהְיֶ֥ה | yihyeh | will it be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַחֲרָ֖יו | ʾacharav | after him | H310 → | 715 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
יוֹדֵעַ֩[is] knowing
yodea'H3045 →945 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
טּ֨וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
לָֽאָדָ֜םfor <the> person
laadamH120 →551 times
בַּֽחַיִּ֗יםin <the> life
bachaiyimH2416 →498 times
מִסְפַּ֛ר[the] number of
misparH4557 →134 times
יְמֵי־[the] days of
yemei-H3117 →2304 times
חַיֵּ֥י[the] life of
chaiyeiH2416 →498 times
הֶבְל֖וֹfutility his
hevloH1892 →73 times
וְיַעֲשֵׂ֣םand he spends them
veyaasemH6213 →2628 times
כַּצֵּ֑לlike <the> shadow
katzelH6738 →49 times
אֲשֶׁר֙that
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
מִֽי־who?
mi-H4310 →423 times
יַגִּ֣ידwill he tell
yagidH5046 →370 times
לָֽאָדָ֔םto <the> person
laadamH120 →551 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
יִּהְיֶ֥הwill it be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
אַחֲרָ֖יוafter him
ʾacharavH310 →715 times
תַּ֥חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃the sun
hashameshH8121 →134 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
Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 8:9
For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 40:6–8
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
- Psalms 103:15–16
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
- 1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- 1 Peter 1:24
Through
James 4:14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
it leads to
- Psalms 39:5
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
- 1 John 2:17
The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
- Psalms 102:3
For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Psalms 39:5
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2462: “The Known and the Unknown” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.