For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
- BSB For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.
- NKJV For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
- NASB For he will not often call to mind the years of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
- NLT God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
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 one to whom God gives such joy is so occupied with gladness that he scarcely broods over the brevity of life. It matters because God-given joy quiets the anxiety that life's shortness provokes.
Overview
The Preacher concludes that those who receive God's gift of joy are kept from dwelling morbidly on life's fleeting days. The joy God supplies is itself a mercy that steadies the heart. This anticipates the deeper joy of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and the peace that guards believers' hearts in Christ (Philippians 4:7), even amid life's brevity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 65:21–24And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
- Ps 37:16A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
- Isa 65:13–14Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed:
- Ps 4:6–7There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
- Rom 5:1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
- Deut 28:47Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
- Deut 28:8–12The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
- Isa 64:5Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
- Rom 5:5–11And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
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 5:20 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.