To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Parallel translations
- WEB For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- KJV For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- NKJV For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
- NASB For to a person who is good in His sight, He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is futility and striving after wind.
- NLT God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
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
God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please Him, while the sinner's gain is passed on to the godly. He calls even this a vanity and chasing wind.
Overview
Qoheleth observes a moral order in which God grants joy to those who please Him, yet still labels life's outcomes elusive. The transfer of the sinner's wealth to the righteous hints at God's just governance, though full resolution awaits beyond this life. This anticipates the gospel reality that lasting wisdom and joy are God's gracious gift, received in Christ rather than earned by toil.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
- Job 27:16–17Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Prov 28:8He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
- Isa 3:10–11Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- John 16:24Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
- Col 3:16–17Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
- 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.
- Prov 3:13–18Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,
- Col 1:9–12For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
- Job 32:8But there is a spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.
- Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
- Jas 3:17But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
- Gen 7:1Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
- 1 Cor 1:30–31It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
- Rom 14:17–18For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- Gal 5:22–23But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Eccl 1:14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
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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 2:26 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.