When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.
Parallel translations
- WEB For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, with knowledge, and with skillfulness; yet he shall leave it for his portion to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.
- NASB When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and then gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil.
- NLT Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill, then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn’t worked for it. This, too, is meaningless, a great tragedy.
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
A person may toil with wisdom and skill, only to leave it all to one who never worked for it. He calls this a great evil and vanity.
Overview
The Preacher highlights the injustice that the fruit of skilled labor passes to an undeserving heir. This perceived unfairness deepens the sense of futility surrounding human work. It exposes the inadequacy of earthly reward and turns the heart toward God, who judges justly and grants a lasting inheritance to His people in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eccl 2:17–18So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- 2 Chr 33:2–9And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- 2 Chr 34:2And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
- Jer 22:15Does it make you a king to excel in cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him.
- Jer 22:17“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
- 2 Chr 35:18No such Passover had been observed in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present, and the people of Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 31:20–21So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God.
- 2 Chr 36:5–10Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.
- Eccl 9:18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:21 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.