Ecclesiastes 4:16

Translations

Modern

There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Traditional

There is no end of all the people, even of all that have been before them: they also that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

Literal

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before their faces, yet those coming after will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vapor and a striving after the wind.

Latin

Infinitus numerus est populi omnium qui fuerunt ante eum, et qui postea futuri sunt non lætabuntur in eo; sed et hoc vanitas et afflictio spiritus.

Original

Hebrew

English

There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Notes

Ecclesiastes 4:15–16

A ruler's popularity is temporary and fleeting, like the wind.

Ecclesiastes 3:16–5:7

This section discusses various topics, such as justice, humans and animals, oppression, moderation, companionship, politics, and worship.

Related verses

Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
1 Kings 1:40
All the people followed him, playing flutes and rejoicing with such a great joy that the earth was split by the sound.
Ecclesiastes 2:17
So 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.
Judges 9:19–20
…if you have acted faithfully and honestly toward Jerubbaal and his house this day, then may you rejoice in Abimelech, and he in you.
2 Samuel 19:9
And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom.
1 Kings 12:10–16
The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:26
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.
1 Kings 1:5–7
At that time Adonijah, David’s son by Haggith, began to exalt himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he acquired chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run ahead of him.
2 Samuel 18:7–8
There the people of Israel were defeated by David’s servants, and the slaughter was great that day—twenty thousand men.
2 Samuel 15:12–13
While Absalom was offering the sacrifices, he sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, to come from his hometown of Giloh. So the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom’s following kept increasing.

Glossary

Book of Ecclesiastes

Topics

South Africa

Ecclesiastes 4:16

Translations?

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Related verses?

Glossary?

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