Ecclesiastes 6:12 kjv
For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 6:12 nkjv
For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 6:12 niv
For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Ecclesiastes 6:12 esv
For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 6:12 nlt
In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone?
Ecclesiastes 6 verses
MeaningEcclesiastes 6:12 states the Preacher's profound conviction that humanity is inherently incapable of truly discerning what is ultimately beneficial or good during their fleeting existence. It highlights life's transient and insubstantial nature, likening it to a brief vapor or passing shadow. Furthermore, the verse underscores humanity's profound ignorance regarding future events, particularly what will occur after one's own lifespan "under the sun." It rhetorically questions the limits of human wisdom and foresight concerning both genuine well-being and the trajectory of time beyond immediate personal experience, reinforcing the pervasive theme of vanity within the earthly realm.
Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 47:9 | "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil..." | Life's brevity and struggles from a human perspective. |
| Job 7:7 | "Oh remember that my life is but wind..." | Emphasizes the ephemeral and transient nature of human life. |
| Job 8:9 | "For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow." | Human ignorance combined with life's fleeting quality. |
| Job 14:1-2 | "Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades; he flees like a shadow and does not continue." | Life is brief, fragile, and temporary. |
| Ps 39:4-5 | "Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is purely vapor." | God establishes the short duration of human life, life is vapor. |
| Ps 89:47 | "Remember how short my time is; for what vanity have You created all the children of men?" | Reflects on life's brevity and inherent vanity. |
| Ps 90:5-6 | "You carry them away as with a flood... They are like grass which grows up; in the morning it flourishes... in the evening it is cut down and withers." | Contrasts God's eternality with humanity's transient life. |
| Ps 102:11 | "My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I wither away like grass." | Life's constant movement towards its end, likened to a shadow. |
| Prv 27:1 | "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." | Underscores the unknowable nature of the future. |
| Isa 5:20 | "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil..." | Illustrates human distortion and ignorance regarding what is truly good. |
| Jer 10:23 | "O Lᴏʀᴅ, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps." | Man's inability to direct his own path or control his destiny. |
| Jas 4:13-14 | "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city...' whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor..." | Directly echoes the unknown future and life as vapor/futility. |
| Lk 12:16-20 | The Parable of the Rich Fool, whose extensive earthly plans were undone by his sudden death. | Illustrates the futility of worldly foresight and dependence on self. |
| Ecc 2:3 | "I searched in my heart how to stimulate my body with wine while my heart was guiding me with wisdom... so that I might see what good there is for the sons of men..." | The Preacher's personal quest to find ultimate "good." |
| Ecc 3:22 | "So I perceived that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his own works... For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?" | Parallel questioning of who can reveal the future. |
| Ecc 7:2 | "It 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..." | Encourages contemplation of life's ultimate end for wisdom. |
| Ecc 8:7 | "For he does not know what will happen; for who can tell him what will happen?" | A direct reiteration of human ignorance about the future. |
| Ecc 9:11 | "The race is not to the swift... nor bread to the wise... time and chance happen to them all." | Human lack of control over outcomes; highlights life's uncertainties. |
| Ecc 10:14 | "A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will happen after him?" | Reinforces the unknowability of future events after one's life. |
| Matt 6:27 | "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" | Human inability to add to life's duration or control the future. |
| Php 4:11-12 | Paul expresses contentment in all circumstances, learning to be self-sufficient through Christ. | Contrast: Finding "good" through spiritual contentment, not circumstances. |
| Heb 9:27 | "And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment..." | Certainty of death, the ultimate unknown beyond earthly life for most. |
| Rev 1:8 | "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." | God alone is omniscient and controls time, knows "good" and the future. |
| Isa 46:10 | "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done..." | Only God knows and declares the future. |
| Prv 16:9 | "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lᴏʀᴅ directs his steps." | Human planning is subject to God's ultimate direction. |
| Matt 6:34 | "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things." | A call to trust God concerning the unknown future, not human wisdom. |
ContextEcclesiastes 6:12 serves as a pivotal summary statement within the Preacher's detailed exploration of earthly pursuits that fail to provide lasting satisfaction or meaning. The preceding verses (Ecc 6:1-11) have illustrated the inherent frustrations of great wealth, large families, or long life when one lacks the "power to enjoy them"—a pleasure God must grant. Such unfulfilled lives are portrayed as more futile than even an untimely birth. Building on this, verse 12 then broadly questions humanity's fundamental cognitive limits. It underscores that humans, bound by time and observing life "under the sun," cannot truly discern what constitutes lasting good or predict what lies beyond their personal experience, especially after death. This inability further emphasizes the "hevel" (vanity/futility) inherent in worldly endeavors, laying the groundwork for the book's eventual pivot toward the fear of God as the ultimate answer.
Word analysis
- For who knows (Ki mi yada') (כִּי מִי־יֽוֹדֵעַ): "Ki" (for, indeed) emphasizes the rhetorical question. "Mi" (who?) signals that the answer is "no one." "Yada'" means "to know" not just intellectually, but with deep, experiential understanding. This combination highlights profound human ignorance about life's ultimate benefit.
- what is good (mah-tov) (מַה־טּוֹב): "Mah" (what?) inquiries about "tov" (good, beneficial, pleasant, valuable). Here, "good" refers to that which genuinely contributes to enduring well-being or ultimate gain, a constant theme of the Preacher's quest for "profit" (yitron).
- for a person in life (la'adam b'ḥayyīm) (לָאָדָם בַּֽחַיִּים): "La'adam" (for the human/person) generalizes this truth to all humanity. "B'ḥayyīm" (in life, during life) specifies the limited timeframe during which one grapples with this unknowing.
- all the days of his empty life (kol-y'mē ḥayyê hevlo) (כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֵּי הֶבְלֽוֹ): "Kol-y'mē" (all the days of) emphasizes the entire span of existence. "Ḥayyê hevlo" is a critical phrase: "ḥayyim" (life) paired with "hevel" (vapor, breath, futility, meaninglessness, paradox). This defines human life from the Preacher's "under the sun" perspective as ultimately insubstantial and unsatisfying.
- that he passes like a shadow? ('asher ya'aseh ka'tsel) (אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה כַּצֵּל): "Ya'aseh" here means "does" or "spends" in the sense of passing. "Ka'tsel" (like a shadow) is a powerful simile emphasizing transience, lack of substance, and utter dependence on something else for existence, rapidly fading away.
- For who can tell a person (Ki mi yaggid la'adam) (כִּי מִי־יַגִּיד לָֽאָדָם): Another rhetorical "who" ("no one") underscores human limitation. "Yaggid" (will tell/declare) implies revealing what is hidden, especially regarding the future.
- what will happen after him (mah yihyeh 'aḥaraw) (מַה יִּֽהְיֶה אַֽחֲרָיו): "Mah yihyeh" (what will be/happen) refers to future events. "'Aḥaraw" (after him) points specifically to what occurs after one's death or beyond one's immediate sphere of influence, encompassing one's legacy and future generations.
- under the sun? (taḥat ha'shammesh) (תַּחַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ): This recurring phrase in Ecclesiastes (29 times) establishes the observational perspective as strictly earthly and human-centered, lacking divine revelation. Within this finite scope, the future and ultimate "good" remain fundamentally unknowable.
Words-group by words-group analysis
- "For who knows what is good for a person in life, all the days of his empty life that he passes like a shadow?"This segment presents the first rhetorical question, targeting humanity's cognitive incapacity to identify what truly benefits them. It contrasts the deep-seated human desire for "good" or lasting happiness with the inescapable reality of "empty life" and its fleeting passage "like a shadow." This challenges the effectiveness of human wisdom or effort alone in securing ultimate satisfaction or enduring meaning in a finite world. The juxtaposition of "good" and "hevel" highlights life's perplexing and often contradictory nature when viewed from a purely human standpoint.
- "For who can tell a person what will happen after him under the sun?"The second rhetorical question addresses humanity's inability to predict the future, particularly regarding what transcends an individual's lifespan or direct control. The recurring phrase "under the sun" serves to delimit the scope of this unknowability to the earthly, observable realm. From this limited human perspective, events beyond one's death, or even the distant consequences of present actions, remain fundamentally veiled. This profoundly affects human ambition, planning, and legacy-building, suggesting their inherent vulnerability and potential futility without a transcendent point of reference. It subtly critiques ancient beliefs in human or pagan divination as sources of future knowledge.
CommentaryEcclesiastes 6:12 concisely expresses the Preacher's central dilemma: life, when examined purely from a human, "under the sun" perspective, is enigmatic, fleeting, and ultimately beyond human control or understanding concerning what truly constitutes good or what the future holds. This profound limitation underpins the sense of "hevel" (vapor/futility) pervasive throughout the book. The verse strips away human arrogance, exposing the inadequacy of worldly wisdom, wealth, or even foresight as means to gain true understanding or lasting benefit. The answer to these rhetorical questions—"no one"—highlights humanity's utter dependence on a power greater than itself. The ultimate response, later provided in Ecclesiastes, lies not in striving to know or control what is unknowable, but in reverent fear of God and obedience to His commands, trusting Him with the "good" and the future. This implies embracing humility, finding contentment in God-given blessings, and living ethically without presuming to understand His full design or predict His working.
Bonus sectionThe consistent use of "under the sun" (Hebrew: taḥat ha'shammesh) in Ecclesiastes functions as a critical literary device, marking the Preacher's observations as those derived from human experience and empirical wisdom, distinct from divine revelation from above. This earthly lens inevitably leads to conclusions of "hevel" or futility because life's deepest meanings and ultimate outcomes cannot be perceived solely from this limited perspective. Ancient philosophical schools and worldviews often sought to define ultimate good (summum bonum) through human reason, ethics, or achievements. The Preacher directly confronts these notions by declaring human incapacity even to discern this "good" for themselves within their fleeting "hevel" existence. This also challenges any form of fatalism or reliance on omens and diviners prevalent in the ancient Near East, by declaring that the future is simply inaccessible to human foreknowledge, thus pointing indirectly to God's exclusive sovereignty over time and purpose (cf. Isa 40-48).