Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 verse 14 Holy Bible

ASV Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness: and yet I perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
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BBE Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the foolish man goes walking in the dark; but still I saw that the same event comes to them all.
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DARBY Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walketh in darkness; but I myself also perceived that one event happeneth to them all.
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KJV Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
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WBT Ecclesiastes 2:14


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WEB Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise man's eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness--and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
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YLT Ecclesiastes 2:14

The wise! -- his eyes `are' in his head, and the fool in darkness is walking, and I also knew that one event happeneth with them all;
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 14. - The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh 'in darkness. This clause is closely connected with the preceding verse, showing how wisdom excelleth folly. The wise man has the eyes of his heart or understanding enlightened (Ephesians 1:18); he looks into the nature of things, fixes his regard on what is most important, sees where to go; while the fool's eyes are in the ends of the earth (Proverbs 17:24); he walks on still in darkness, stumbling as he goes, knowing not whither his road shall take him. And I myself also (I even I) perceived that one event happeneth to them all. "Event" (mikreh); συνάντημα (Septuagint); interitus (Vulgate); not chance, But death, the final event. The word is translated "hap" in Ruth 2:3, and "chance" in 1 Samuel 6:9; but the connection here points to a definite termination; nor would it be consistent with Koheleth's religion to refer this termination to fate or accident. With all his experience, he could only conclude that in one important aspect the observed superiority of wisdom to folly was illusory and vain. He saw with his own eyes, and needed no instructor to teach, that both wise and fool must succumb to death, the universal leveler. Horace, in many passages, sings of this: thus 'Carm.,' 2:3. 21 - "Divesne prisco natus ab Inacho,Nil interest, an pauper et infimaDe gente sub dive moreris,Victima nil miserantis Orci." (Comp, ibid, 1:28. 15, etc.; 2:14. 9, etc.) Plato ('Phaedo,' 57. p. 108, A) refers to a passage in 'Telephus,' a lost play of 2 Eschylus, which is restored thus - Ἁπλῆ γὰρ οϊμος πάντες εἰς Ἅιδου φέρει. "A single path leads all unto the grave."

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14) Event.--Translated "hap," or "chance" (Ruth 2:13; 1Samuel 6:9; 1Samuel 20:26).