God & Savior

Ecclesiastes 2:12

Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?
Ecclesiastes 2:12
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Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Hebrew)

וּפָנִ֤יתִֽי אֲנִי֙ לִרְא֣וֹת חָכְמָ֔ה וְהוֹלֵל֖וֹת וְסִכְל֑וּת כִּ֣י׀ מֶ֣ה הָאָדָ֗ם שֶׁיָּבוֹא֙ אַחֲרֵ֣י הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־כְּבָ֖ר עָשֽׂוּהוּ׃

  1. וּפָנִ֤יתִֽיu.fa.Ni.ti“and I turned”
    Conjunction + Verb, qal, sequential perfect, 1st person, common, singular · from פָּנָה · “to turn” · Strong's H6437G
  2. אֲנִי֙'a.Ni“I”
    Pronoun, personal, 1st person, both genders, singular · from אֲנִי, אָֽנֹכִ֫י · “I” · Strong's H0589
  3. לִרְא֣וֹתlir.'ot“to consider”
    Preposition + Verb, qal, infinitive construct, common · from רָאָה · “examine” · Strong's H7200H
  4. חָכְמָ֔הchokh.mah“wisdom”
    Noun, feminine, singular, absolute · from חׇכְמָה · “wisdom” · Strong's H2451
  5. וְהוֹלֵל֖וֹתve.ho.le.Lot“and madness”
    Conjunction + Noun, feminine, plural, absolute · from הוֹלֵלָה · “madness” · Strong's H1947
  6. וְסִכְל֑וּתve.sikh.Lut“and folly”
    Conjunction + Noun, feminine, singular, absolute · from סִכְלוּת · “folly” · Strong's H5531B
  7. כִּ֣י׀ki“for”
    Particle · from כִּי · “for” · Strong's H3588A
  8. מֶ֣הmeh“what?”
    Pronoun, interrogative · from מָה · “what?” · Strong's H4100
  9. הָאָדָ֗םha.'a.Dam“[is] the person”
    Definite article + Noun, masculine, singular, absolute · from אָדָם · “man” · Strong's H0120G
  10. שֶׁיָּבוֹא֙shei.ya.Vo'“who <he >will come”
    Particle, relative + Verb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular · from בּוֹא · “come” · Strong's H0935G
  11. אַחֲרֵ֣י'a.cha.Rei“after”
    Adjective, cardinal number, masculine, plural, construct · from אַחַר · “after” · Strong's H0310A
  12. הַמֶּ֔לֶךְha.Me.lekh“the king”
    Definite article + Noun, masculine, singular, absolute · from מֶ֫לֶךְ · “king” · Strong's H4428G
  13. אֵ֥ת'et“<obj.>”
    Particle, direct object marker · from אֵת · “[Obj.]” · Strong's H0853
  14. אֲשֶׁר־'a.Sher-“[that] which”
    Particle, relative · from אֲשֶׁר · “which” · Strong's H0834A
  15. כְּבָ֖רke.Var“already”
    Noun, masculine, singular, absolute · from כְּבָר · “already” · Strong's H3528
  16. עָשֽׂוּהוּ׃'a.Su.hu“people have done it”
    Verb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural + Suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular · from עָשָׂה · “do” · Strong's H6213A
  • Hebrew and Aramaic words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)