For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.
- BSB For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
- NKJV For the living know that they will die; But the dead know nothing, And they have no more reward, For the memory of them is forgotten.
- NASB For the living know that they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor do they have a reward any longer, for their memory is forgotten.
- NLT The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.
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 living know they will die and can prepare, but the dead know nothing more and their memory fades from the world. Earthly life is the time to act, for death ends our work under the sun.
Overview
Qoheleth contrasts the conscious living with the dead, who have no more share in earthly affairs or remembrance. He speaks from the vantage point of life 'under the sun,' not delivering a full doctrine of the afterlife, which later revelation unfolds. The urgency he presses finds its answer in Christ, who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 26:14They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
- Eccl 1:11There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
- Ps 6:5For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
- Ps 88:10–12Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
- Job 14:21His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
- Heb 9:27And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
- Ps 109:15Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
- Eccl 2:16For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.
- Isa 63:16Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
- Eccl 8:10And so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the place of the holy, and they were forgotten in the city where they had so done: this is also vanity.
- Job 7:8–10The eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more: thine eyes are upon me, and I am not.
- 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 will lay it to his heart.
- Job 30:23For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:5 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.