Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 verse 19 Holy Bible

ASV Ecclesiastes 2:19

And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet will he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
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BBE Ecclesiastes 2:19

And who is to say if that man will be wise or foolish? But he will have power over all my work which I have done and in which I have been wise under the sun. This again is to no purpose.
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DARBY Ecclesiastes 2:19

And who knoweth whether he will be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour at which I have laboured, and wherein I have been wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
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KJV Ecclesiastes 2:19

And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
read chapter 2 in KJV

WBT Ecclesiastes 2:19


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WEB Ecclesiastes 2:19

Who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have rule over all of my labor in which I have labored, and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
read chapter 2 in WEB

YLT Ecclesiastes 2:19

And who knoweth whether he is wise or foolish? yet he doth rule over all my labour that I have laboured at, and that I have done wisely under the sun! this also `is' vanity.
read chapter 2 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 19. - Who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? The bitter feeling that he has to leave the fruits of his lifelong labor to another is aggravated by the thought that he knows not the character of this successor, whether he will be worthy or not. As the psalmist says, "He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them" (Psalm 39:6). Again in the parable, "The things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they be?" (Luke 12:20; comp. Ecclus. 11:18, 19). Yet shall he have rule, etc. Whatever may be his character, he will have free use and control of all that I have gathered by my labor directed by prudence and wisdom. Vulgate, Domina-bitur in laboribus meis quibus desudavi et sollicitus fui.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(19) Have rule.--The word occurs again in Ecclesiastes 6:2; Ecclesiastes 8:9; elsewhere only in Nehemiah and Esther. and in Psalm 119:133.