The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
Parallel translations
- WEB The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness — and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
- KJV The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
- NKJV The wise man’s eyes are in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.
- NASB The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them.
- NLT For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share the same fate.
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
The wise see clearly while fools walk in darkness, yet the same fate of death befalls both. Wisdom's advantage is real but undone by the shared reality of death.
Overview
Qoheleth grants that the wise person navigates life with sight while the fool stumbles blindly. But he confronts the leveling reality that death claims both alike 'under the sun.' This tension exposes the limits of earthly wisdom and creates a longing for the resurrection, in which Christ conquers the death that wisdom alone cannot escape.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 49:10For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.
- Prov 17:24Wisdom is the focus of the discerning, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
- Eccl 9:11I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
- Eccl 3:19For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.
- 1 Jn 2:11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
- Eccl 9:1–3So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.
- Eccl 9:16And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
- Eccl 6:6even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
- Eccl 8:1Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
- Eccl 10:2–3A wise man’s heart inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left.
- Prov 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools deceives them.
- Ps 19:10They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- Eccl 7:2It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.
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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 2:14 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.