Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 in other translations
| BSB | For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten. |
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| WEB | For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten. |
| ASV | For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. |
| YLT | For the living know that they die, and the dead know not anything, and there is no more to them a reward, for their remembrance hath been forgotten. |
| DARBY | For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. |
| BBE | The living are conscious that death will come to them, but the dead are not conscious of anything, and they no longer have a reward, because there is no memory of them. |
| Webster | For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. |
What does Ecclesiastes 9:5 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 9:4-10
The most despicable living man's state, is preferable to that of the most noble who have died impenitent. Solomon exhorts the wise and pious to cheerful confidence in God, whatever their condition in life. The meanest morsel, coming from their Father's love, in answer to prayer, will have a peculiar relish. Not that we may set our hearts upon the delights of sense, but what God has given us we may use with wisdom…
Ecclesiastes 9:5 in the original Hebrew
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Cross references for Ecclesiastes 9:5
- Isaiah 26:14
They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
- Ecclesiastes 1:11
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.
- Psalms 6:5
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
- Psalms 88:10-12
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
- Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- Job 14:21
His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
- Psalms 109:15
Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
- Ecclesiastes 2:16
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.
- Ecclesiastes 8:10
And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
- Isaiah 63:16
Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
- Job 7:8-10
The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away: so he that goeth down to the grave shall come up no more. He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
- Ecclesiastes 7:2
It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Ecclesiastes 9:4
For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
- Ecclesiastes 9:6
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Porque los que viven saben que han de morir: mas los muertos nada saben, ni tienen más paga; porque su memoria es puesta en olvido. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Car les vivants savent qu’ils mourront; mais les morts ne savent rien du tout; et il n’y a plus pour eux de salaire, car leur mémoire est oubliée. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Denn die Lebenden wissen, daß sie sterben werden; die Toten aber wissen gar nichts, und sie haben keinen Lohn mehr, denn ihr Gedächtnis ist vergessen. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Viventes enim sciunt se esse morituros; mortui vero nihil noverunt amplius, nec habent ultra mercedem, quia oblivioni tradita est memoria eorum. |