Ecclesiastes 1:11
in Ecclesiastes 1There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is no remembrance of the former generations; neither shall there be any remembrance of the latter generations that are to come, among those that shall come after.
KJV
There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
⋯
This verse in Ecclesiastes 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThere is no remembrance - I believe the general meaning to be this: Multitudes of ancient transactions have been lost, because they were not recorded; and of many that have been recorded, the records are lost. And this will be the case with many others which are yet to occur. How many persons, not much acquainted with books, have supposed that certain things were their own discoveries, which have been written or printed even long before they were born! Dutens, in his Origin of the Discoveries attributed to the Moderns, has made a very clear case.
This site's exposition
What has been will be again
on Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
What has been will be again rules out novelty as an answer to the question of gain, since there is nothing new under the sun. Verse 10 imagines someone saying Look, this is new and replies that it existed in the ages before. Verse 11 carries the point into memory.
This site's exposition
There is no remembrance
Clarke and Wesley take the words as a fact: most of what men have done was never written, and much that was written is lost. Gregory of Nyssa looks to the end. When all things are made new in Christ, he says, the remembrance of evil will be gone.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
If oblivion has overtaken things which were, do not be surprised; for those that now are will also be veiled in oblivion. When our nature inclined to evil we became forgetful of the good; when we are set free again for the good, evil in turn will be veiled in oblivion. For I think this is the meaning of the text, in which he says, "There is no memory for the first, and indeed for those who come last there will be no memory of them." It is as if he were saying that the memory of events which followed our blessed state at the beginning, through which humanity has come to be among evils, will be obliterated by what again supervenes at the end. For "there will be no memory of them with those who have come to be at the last." That means, the final restoration will make the memory of evil things utterly vanish in our nature, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever.
"There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after." In the same way as the past is concealed for us in forgetfulness, thus it is with those things which are either done now, or will be done.
If they are swallowed up in oblivion, do not wonder because the present will suffer the same fate. Because nature tends towards evil, we are forgetful of the good; but when enjoyment of the good returns, oblivion envelopes evil. We have no remembrance of the first and last things which is as though he said that the events which introduced evil after man's original blessed state will erase the memory the last things. No such memory will exist in the future; the last state [hē eschatē katastasis] will utterly destroy the memory of evil deeds in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
In the third place it is touched upon here that things do not endure so as to be remembered, because all things are delivered to oblivion; whence he says: "There is no remembrance of former things," namely among us who come after: Wisdom two: "Our …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
There are many thousands of remarkable speeches and actions done in this and the following ages which neither are, nor ever will be, put into the publick records or histories, and consequently must unavoidably be forgotten in succeeding ages; and therefore it is just and reasonable to believe the same concerning former ages.
1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
There is no remembrance of former things,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Also of the later generations that are to come. After us, will have no recollection in the generations that will be after them.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I, Koheles, have been king. Over the whole world, and later, over Yisroel, and then, over Yerusholayim alone, and finally, over my staff, 39 See Maseches Sanhedrin 20b. for it says, “[I] have been king.. in Yerusholayim,” but now, I am no longer king.
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. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| זִכְר֖וֹן | zikhron | [is] remembrance | H2146 → | 24 times |
| לָרִאשֹׁנִ֑ים | larishonim | of the former [things] | H7223 → | |
| וְגַ֨ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| לָאַחֲרֹנִ֜ים | laacharonim | of the subsequent [things] | H314 → | 51 times |
| שֶׁיִּהְי֗וּ | sheiyihyu | that they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִהְיֶ֤ה | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָהֶם֙ | lahem | of <the> them | ||
| זִכָּר֔וֹן | zikaron | remembrance | H2146 → | 24 times |
| עִ֥ם | ʾim | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| שֶׁיִּהְי֖וּ | sheiyihyu | who <they> will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָאַחֲרֹנָֽה׃ פ | laacharonah | to the later [time] | H314 → | 51 times |
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
זִכְר֖וֹן[is] remembrance
zikhronH2146 →24 times
לָרִאשֹׁנִ֑יםof the former [things]
larishonimH7223 →
וְגַ֨םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
לָאַחֲרֹנִ֜יםof the subsequent [things]
laacharonimH314 →51 times
שֶׁיִּהְי֗וּthat they will be
sheiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִהְיֶ֤הit will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
לָהֶם֙of <the> them
lahem
זִכָּר֔וֹןremembrance
zikaronH2146 →24 times
עִ֥םwith
ʾimH5973 →1050 times
שֶׁיִּהְי֖וּwho <they> will be
sheiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
לָאַחֲרֹנָֽה׃ פto the later [time]
laacharonahH314 →51 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 9:5For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
it leads to
- Hebrews 9:27
Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 26:14
The dead will not live; the departed spirits will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them; You have wiped out all memory of them.
- Psalms 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
- Psalms 88:10–12
Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
- Job 14:21
If his sons receive honor, he does not know it; if they are brought low, he is unaware.
- Hebrews 9:27
Through
Isaiah 42:9Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- Isaiah 46:9–10
Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
- John 13:19
I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it comes to pass, you will believe that I am He.
- Isaiah 43:19
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 1; Gregory of Nyssa, HOMILIES ON ECCLESIASTES 1; Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary (church-history corpus); Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.