Ecclesiastes 2 · Verse 21

Ecclesiastes 2:21

For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
Ecclesiastes 2:21, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 2:21 in other translations

BSBWhen there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.
WEBFor there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
ASVFor there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skilfulness; yet to a man that hath not labored therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
YLTFor there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity, and to a man who hath not laboured therein he giveth it--his portion! Even this is vanity and a great evil.
DARBYFor there is a man whose labour hath been with wisdom, and with knowledge, and with skill, and who leaveth it to a man that hath not laboured therein, to be his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
BBEBecause there is a man whose work has been done with wisdom, with knowledge, and with an expert hand; but one who has done nothing for it will have it for his heritage. This again is to no purpose and a great evil.
WebsterFor there is a man whose labor is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not labored in it, shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

What does Ecclesiastes 2:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. Suppose "there is a man," &c. equity--rather "with success," as the Hebrew is rendered (Ec 11:6), "prosper," though Margin gives "right" [Holden and Maurer]. evil--not in itself, for this is the ordinary course of things, but "evil," as regards the chief good, that one should have toiled so fruitlessly.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 For there is a man - Does he not allude to himself? As if he had said, "I have labored to cultivate my mind in wisdom and in science, in knowledge of men and things, and have endeavored to establish equity and dispense justice. And now I find I shall leave all the fruits of my labor to a man that hath not labored therein, and consequently cannot prize what I have wrought." Does he not refer to his son Rehoboam?

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26

Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from the creature; but Solomon came to this at length. The world is a vale of tears, even to those that have much of it. See what fools they are, who make themselves drudges to the world, which affords a man nothing better than subsistence for the body. And the utmost he can attain in this respect is to allow himself a sober, cheerful use thereof…

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26 →

Ecclesiastes 2:21 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּי\־ki-ifH3588
יֵ֣שׁyeshthereH3426
אָדָ֗ם'a.Dam[was] a personH120
שֶׁעֲמָל֛וֹshe.'a.ma.Lowho toil hisH5999
בְּחָכְמָ֥הbe.cha.khe.Mah[was] with wisdomH2451
וּבְדַ֖עַתu.ve.Da.'atand with knowledgeH1847
וּבְכִשְׁר֑וֹןu.ve.khish.Ronand with skillH3788
וּלְאָדָ֞םu.le.'a.Damand to a personH120
שֶׁלֹּ֤אshe.Lo'who notH3808
עָֽמַל\־'a.mal-he toiledH5998
בּוֹ֙boin <the> it
יִתְּנֶ֣נּוּyi.te.Ne.nuhe will give itH5414
חֶלְק֔וֹchel.Koportion hisH2506
גַּם\־gam-alsoH1571
זֶ֥הzehthisH2088
הֶ֖בֶלHe.vel[is] futilityH1892
וְרָעָ֥הve.ra.'Ahand an evilH7451
רַבָּֽה\׃ra.BahgreatH7227

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 2:21

  • Ecclesiastes 2:17-18

    Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.

  • Ecclesiastes 9:18

    Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.

  • Jeremiah 22:15

    Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

  • 2 Chronicles 31:20-21

    And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

  • 2 Chronicles 35:18

    And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

  • Jeremiah 22:17

    But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

  • 2 Chronicles 34:2

    And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

  • 2 Chronicles 33:2-9

    But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. …

  • 2 Chronicles 36:5-10

    Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and his abominations which he did, and that which was found in him, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
whose.
17,18; 9:18; 2Ch 31:20,21; 33:2-9; 34:2; 35:18; 36:5-10
Jer 22:15,17
leave. Heb. give.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ecclesiastes 2:20

    Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.

  • Ecclesiastes 2:21

    For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

  • Ecclesiastes 2:22

    For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

Read all of Ecclesiastes 2

Ecclesiastes 2:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡Que el hombre trabaje con sabiduría, y con ciencia, y con rectitud, y que haya de dar su hacienda á hombre que nunca trabajó en ello! También es esto vanidad y mal grande.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Car il y a tel homme qui a travaillé avec sagesse, et avec connaissance, et avec droiture, et qui laisse ce qu’il a acquis à un homme qui n’y a pas travaillé, pour être son partage. Cela aussi est vanité et un grand mal.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn da ist ein Mensch, dessen Mühe mit Weisheit und mit Kenntnis und mit Tüchtigkeit geschieht: und doch muß er sie einem Menschen als sein Teil abgeben, der sich nicht darum gemüht hat. Auch das ist Eitelkeit und ein großes Übel. -
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Nam cum alius laboret in sapientia, et doctrina, et sollicitudine, homini otioso quæsita dimittit; et hoc ergo vanitas et magnum malum.