There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is no memory of the former; neither shall there be any memory of the latter 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.
- NKJV There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.
- NASB There is no remembrance of the earlier things, And of the later things as well, which will occur, There will be no remembrance of them Among those who will come later still.
- NLT We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
People and their deeds are forgotten, and those to come will be forgotten too. Earthly remembrance is fleeting and cannot give lasting significance.
Overview
The Preacher laments that memory fades, so even great accomplishments slip into oblivion. This sharpens the futility of seeking immortality through human legacy. Yet Scripture comforts believers that God remembers His own, and that their names are written in the Lamb's book of life, never to be forgotten.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Eccl 2:16For 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!
- Ps 9:6The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.
- Eccl 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.
- Isa 42:9Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
- Isa 41:22–26“Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming.
Resources, by level
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 1:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.