Passage

Ecclesiastes 1.18

Book: Ecclesiastes · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

16. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 17. And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also was a striving after wind.

18. For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18, ASV)

WEB

16. I said to myself, “Behold, I have obtained for myself great wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem. Yes, my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17. I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind.

18. For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18, WEB)

KJV

16. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. ^{had: Heb. had seen much} 17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

18. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18, KJV)

YLT

16. I, I spake with my heart, saying, 'I, lo, I have magnified and added wisdom above every one who hath been before me at Jerusalem, and my heart hath seen abundantly wisdom and knowledge. 17. And I give my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I have known that even this [is] vexation of spirit;

18. for, in abundance of wisdom [is] abundance of sadness, and he who addeth knowledge addeth pain.' (Ecclesiastes 1:16-18, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Qohelet, "the Preacher" (Ecclesiastes 1:1), traditionally Solomon
Audience: readers of Israel's wisdom tradition weighing life "under the sun"
Location: Jerusalem, where the Preacher "was king over Israel" (Ecclesiastes 1:12)
Time period: traditionally c. 970-930 BC (Solomon's reign); many scholars date the book later, c. 450-200 BC

Theological reading

The verse closes the first report of Qohelet's search. He had gotten "great wisdom above all that were before me" and set his heart "to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly," and found that "this also was a striving after wind" (Ecclesiastes 1:16-17). Here is the reason: more wisdom brings more grief, ka'as, and more knowledge brings more sorrow, makov, pain.

This is not a rejection of wisdom. Qohelet says shortly after that "wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness" (Ecclesiastes 2:13). The grief comes from what wisdom reveals. The wise man sees clearly what he cannot fix: "That which is crooked cannot be made straight" (Ecclesiastes 1:15).

The verse marks the limit of what understanding alone can do for a person. Knowledge sharpens the sight of the problem without supplying the remedy. The codex cites it for the biblical theme of intellectual humility in Cartesian Skeptical Argument and Christian Responses.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Cartesian Skeptical Argument and Christian Responses

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.