Ecclesiastes 2:16 “For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool…”

Ecclesiastes 2:16

For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

For 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.

World English Bible

For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no memory forever, since in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. Indeed, the wise man must die just like the fool!

American Standard Version

For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever; seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. And how doth the wise man die even as the fool!

Geneva Bible 1599

For there shalbe no remembrance of the wise, nor of the foole for euer: for that that now is, in the dayes to come shall all be forgotten. And howe dyeth the wise man, as doeth the foole?

Darby Translation

For there shall be no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; because everything is already forgotten in the days which come. And how dieth the wise even as the fool?

Young's Literal Translation

That there is no remembrance to the wise — with the fool — to the age, for that which [is] already, [in] the days that are coming is all forgotten, and how dieth the wise? with the fool!

Bible in Basic English

Of the wise man, as of the foolish man, there is no memory for ever, seeing that those who now are will have gone from memory in the days to come. See how death comes to the wise as to the foolish!

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Cross references

“there is”

Ecclesiastes 1:11 Exodus 1:8 Psalm 88:12 Malachi 3:16 Exodus 1:6 Psalm 103:16

Ecclesiastes 1:11 · BSB

There is no remembrance of those who came before, and those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow after.

Exodus 1:8 · BSB

Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

Psalm 88:12 · BSB

Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

Malachi 3:16 · BSB

At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.

Exodus 1:6 · BSB

Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,

Psalm 103:16 · BSB

when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.

“how”

Hebrews 9:27 Ecclesiastes 6:8 2 Samuel 3:33 Psalm 49:10

Hebrews 9:27 · BSB

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

Ecclesiastes 6:8 · BSB

What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool? What gain comes to the poor man who knows how to conduct himself before others?

2 Samuel 3:33 · BSB

And the king sang this lament for Abner: “Should Abner die the death of a fool?

Psalm 49:10 · BSB

For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.

Also

Ecclesiastes 9:5 Ecclesiastes 2:14

Ecclesiastes 9:5 · 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.

Ecclesiastes 2:14 · 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.

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

15So I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will also befall me. What then have I gained by being wise?” And I said to myself that this too is futile.

17So 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.

Read Ecclesiastes 2