Ecclesiastes 2:16
in Ecclesiastes 2For 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!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!
KJV
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 2
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThere is no remembrance - The wise and the fool are equally subject to death; and, in most instances, they are equally forgotten. Time sweeps away all remembrances, except the very few out of millions which are preserved for a while in the page of history.
This site's exposition
The fate of the fool will also befall me
on Ecclesiastes 2:15-17
The finding turns personal, The fate of the fool will also befall me, and the king's advantage falls under the same death. The Teacher's own word for the discovery is So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me.
This site's exposition
no lasting remembrance of the wise
Wesley observes that the wise man is remembered for a while, and then his monuments are forgotten. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set the verse beside the builders of Babel, who sought a name, and hold that the righteous alone are remembered. Gregory of Neocaesarea sets the wise apart before God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"So I said to myself: the fate of the fool will befall me also; to what advantage then have I become wise? But I concluded that this, too, was vanity. For there is no comparison between the remembrance of the wise and of the fool at all, for as the succeeding days roll by, is all forgotten? How can the wise man's death be like the fool's?
A wise person and a foolish person have nothing in common, either in terms of human remembrance or in terms of divine recompense. As for human works, the end already overtakes them all while they still seem to be beginning. But a wise person never …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Not only is there equality in death, but also after death: whence he also adds: "And I spoke with my mind," that is, I considered inwardly, and "I perceived that this also was vanity," namely, to devote greater effort to wisdom than the fool, because …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For - Their memory, though it may flourish for a season, yet will in a little time be worn out; as we see it, most of the wise men of former ages, whose very names, together with all their monuments, are utterly lost.
He enquires how far the business and wealth of this world will go towards making men happy, and concludes, from his own experience, that, to those who set their hearts upon it, "it is vanity and vexation of spirit," (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? 26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
remembrance--a great aim of the worldly (Ge 11:4). The righteous alone attain it (Ps 112:6; Pr 10:7). for ever--no perpetual memorial. that which now is--MAURER, "In the days to come all things shall be now long ago forgotten."
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֵ֨ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| זִכְר֧וֹן | zikhron | [is] remembrance | H2146 → | 24 times |
| לֶחָכָ֛ם | lechakham | of the wise man | H2450 → | 138 times |
| עִֽם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| הַכְּסִ֖יל | hakesil | the fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֑ם | leolam | for a long time | H5769 → | 438 times |
| בְּשֶׁכְּבָ֞ר | beshekevar | in that already | H3528 → | 9 times |
| הַיָּמִ֤ים | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַבָּאִים֙ | habaim | <the> coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| הַכֹּ֣ל | hakol | <the> everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נִשְׁכָּ֔ח | nishkach | it has been forgotten | H7911 → | 102 times |
| וְאֵ֛יךְ | veeikh | and how! | H349 → | |
| יָמ֥וּת | yamut | he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| הֶחָכָ֖ם | hechakham | the wise [person] | H2450 → | 138 times |
| עִֽם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| הַכְּסִֽיל׃ | hakesil | the fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֵ֨יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
זִכְר֧וֹן[is] remembrance
zikhronH2146 →24 times
לֶחָכָ֛םof the wise man
lechakhamH2450 →138 times
עִֽם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
הַכְּסִ֖ילthe fool
hakesilH3684 →70 times
לְעוֹלָ֑םfor a long time
leolamH5769 →438 times
בְּשֶׁכְּבָ֞רin that already
beshekevarH3528 →9 times
הַיָּמִ֤יםthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 times
הַבָּאִים֙<the> coming
habaimH935 →2568 times
הַכֹּ֣ל<the> everything
hakolH3605 →5413 times
נִשְׁכָּ֔חit has been forgotten
nishkachH7911 →102 times
וְאֵ֛יךְand how!
veeikhH349 →
יָמ֥וּתhe will die
yamutH4191 →839 times
הֶחָכָ֖םthe wise [person]
hechakhamH2450 →138 times
עִֽם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
הַכְּסִֽיל׃the fool
hakesilH3684 →70 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
Malachi 3:16At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD…
it leads to
- Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their…
- Psalms 56:8
You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle— are they not in Your book?
- Malachi 4:2
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
- Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Isaiah 26:3
You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You.
- Revelation 20:12
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
- 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.
- Ecclesiastes 1:11
There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
- Psalms 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
- Isaiah 26:14
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Gregory of Neocaesarea, PARAPHRASE OF ECCLESIASTES 2:16; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.