Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 2:19
And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This [is] also vanity.
19. who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man ] We note in this rather the utterance of a generalized experience than, as some have thought, the special thought of the historical Solomon watching the growth of a character like Rehoboam. No man, whatever care he may take to entail his possessions, can secure an entail of character. And there is something irritating at times, the writer seems to hint, almost maddening, in the thought that whatever may be the character of the heir, he will have power to scatter in random waste what has been brought together, as with a purpose and a policy. Lands, libraries, galleries are all liable to be scattered and broken up. So in Psa 39:6 we have as the doom of the mammon-worshipper, “He heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.” So the sting of the message that comes to the Rich Fool of the parable is “Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?” Luk 12:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. A wise man or a fool?] Alas! Solomon, the wisest of all men, made the worst use of his wisdom, had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and yet left but one son behind him, to possess his estates and his throne, and that one was the silliest of fools!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A fool; who will undo all that I have done, and turn the effects of my wisdom into instruments of his folly, and occasions of ruin. Some think he had such an opinion of Rehoboam.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise [man] or a fool?…. The king that should be after him, as the Targum, that should be his successor and heir; and so whether he would make a good or bad use of what was left; whether he would keep and improve it, or squander it away; suggesting, that could he be sure he would be a wise man that should come into his labours, it would be some satisfaction to him that he had laboured, and such a man should have the benefit of it; but as it was a precarious thing what he would be, he could take no pleasure in reviewing his labours he was about to leave. Some think that Solomon here gives a hint of the suspicion he had, that his son Rehoboam, his successor and heir, would turn out a foolish man, as he did;
yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have showed myself wise, under the sun; be he what he will, all will come into his hands; and he will have the power of disposing of all at his pleasure; not only of enjoying it, but of changing and altering things; and perhaps greatly for the worse, if he does not entirely destroy what has been wrought with so much care and industry, toil and labour, wisdom and prudence; the thought of all which was afflicting and distressing: and therefore he adds,
This [is] also vanity; and shows there is no happiness in all that a man does, has, or enjoys; and this circumstance, before related, adds to his vexation and unhappiness.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“And who knoweth whether he shall be wise or foolish? and he will have power over all my labour with which had wearied myself, and had acted wisely, under the sun: this also is vain.” … , instead of … , in the double question, as at Job 16:3. What kind of a man he will be no one can previously know, and yet this person will have free control (cf. , p.641) over all the labour that the testator has wisely gained by labour – a hendiadys, for with the obj. accus. is only in such a connection possible: “my labour which I, acting wisely, gained by labour.”
In view of this doubtful future of that which was with pains and wisely gained by him, his spirit sank within him.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(19) Have rule.The word occurs again in Ecc. 6:2; Ecc. 8:9; elsewhere only in Nehemiah and Esther. and in Psa. 119:133.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Who knoweth The language of one evidently ignorant as to what the character of his heir will be a wise man or a fool.
Yet shall he have rule Even in States where laws of inheritance are reliable, men still contemplate with anxiety the fate of their properties in the hands of their heirs. Except in cases of entailment, grandsons are not sure of estates.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 2:19. Yet shall he have rule, &c. Yet shall he be master of all that I have acquired through both my labour and prudent management under the sun. Desvoeux.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ecc 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.
Ver. 19. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man. ] A friend or an enemy, an acquaintance or a mere stranger; riches oft change masters. How many by a just hand of God die childless! or else leave what they have to spendthrifts, that will spend it as merrily as ever their parents got it miserably! scatter with a fork, as it were, what they have wretchedly raked together. Our Henry II, some few hours before he died, saw a list of their names who conspired with the King of France, and Earl Richard, his son and successor, against him; and finding therein his son John – whom he had made Earl of Cornwall, Somerset, Nottingham, Derby, and Lancaster, and given him a vast estate – to be the first, he fell into a grievous passion, both cursing his sons, and the day wherein himself was born and in that distemperature departed the world, which so often himself had distempered. a
a Daniel’s History, 112.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fool. Hebrew. sakal = stupid. Not the game word as in verses: Ecc 2:14, Ecc 2:15, Ecc 2:16.
have rule. Hebrew. shaLatin Supposed to be a later Hebrew word, but it occurs in Psa 119:133.
shewed myself wise = acted wisely.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
who knoweth: Ecc 3:22, 1Ki 12:14-20, 1Ki 14:25-28, 2Ch 10:13-16, 2Ch 12:9, 2Ch 12:10
wise under: Ecc 9:13, Luk 16:8, Jam 1:17, Jam 3:17
Reciprocal: Exo 1:8 – a new king 1Sa 8:3 – his sons 1Ki 14:26 – the shields of gold 2Ch 6:10 – I am risen 2Ch 10:14 – My father 2Ch 33:3 – he built again Est 8:1 – give the house Est 8:2 – Esther set Job 14:21 – he knoweth it not Job 21:21 – For what Psa 49:10 – leave Pro 10:1 – A wise Pro 17:25 – General Pro 19:13 – foolish Pro 23:24 – father Ecc 1:2 – General Ecc 1:3 – under Ecc 11:8 – All that Jer 9:23 – wise Dan 11:4 – and shall be