Ecclesiastes 2:21

For there is many a man whose toil is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and with energy; yet to a man that hath not toiled therefore must he give it as his portion. Also this is vanity and a great evil.

Leeser Tanakh

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

20Therefore I turned about to cause my heart to give up thinking of all the toil wherewith I had toiled under the sun.

22For what doth a man obtain of all his toil, and of the torture of his heart, wherewith he toileth under the sun?

Read all of Ecclesiastes 2

Cross References

2 Chronicles 31:20And the like did Hezekiah in all Judah, and he did what is good and right and true before the Lord his God.

2 Chronicles 34:2And he did what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right or to the left.

2 Chronicles 36:5Twenty and five years old was Jehoyakim when he became king, and eleven years did he reign in Jerusalem: and he did what is evil in the eyes of the Lord his God.

Psalms 49:11(49:12) Their inward thought is, that their houses are to be for ever, their dwelling-places, from generation to generation; they call them by their own names in [various] countries.

Ecclesiastes 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner causes much good to be lost.

Jeremiah 22:17But thy eyes and thy heart are directed on nothing but upon thy own gain, and upon innocent blood to shed it, and upon oppression, and upon extortion, to practise them.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 2:18-26

Sources of Dissatisfaction; The Cheerful Use of Abundance. 17 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. 18 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. 19 And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ecclesiastes 2:21