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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
- 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 he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
- Prov 17:24Wisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
- Eccl 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
- Eccl 3:19For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals: for all is vanity.
- 1 Jn 2:11But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
- Eccl 9:1–3For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it is love or hatred, man doesn’t know it; all is before them.
- Eccl 9:16Then I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” Nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
- Eccl 6:6Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don’t all go to one place?
- Eccl 8:1Who is like the wise man? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.
- Eccl 10:2–3A wise man’s heart is at his right hand, but a fool’s heart at his left.
- Prov 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.
- Ps 19:10More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.
- Eccl 7:2It 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 should take this to heart.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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.