a memento (or memorable thing · noun, common masculine singular construct
former
לָרִאשֹׁנִ֑יםla.ri.sho.Nim
H7223
first · preposition with the article + ordinal number, masculine plural absolute
remembrance
זִכָּר֔וֹןzi.ka.Ron
H2146
a memento (or memorable thing · noun, common masculine singular absolute
come
לָאַחֲרֹנִ֜יםla.'a.cha.ro.Nim
H314
hinder · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine plural absolute
after
לָאַחֲרֹנָֽהla.'a.cha.ro.Nah
H314
hinder · preposition with the article + adjective, feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ecclesiastes 2:16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten.…
Psalms 9:6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is for…
Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Isaiah 41:22-26 Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
Two things we are apt to take a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in, and value ourselves upon, with reference to our business and enjoyments in the world, as if they helped to save them from vanity. Solomon shows us our mistake in both.
1. The novelty of the invention, that it is such as was never known before. How grateful is it to think that none ever made such advances in knowledge, and such discoveries by it, as we, that none ever made such improvements of an estate or trade, and had the art of enjoying the gains of it, as we have. Their contrivances and compositions are all despised and run down, and we boast of new fashions, new hypotheses, new methods, new expressions, which jo…
The reason why some things are thought "new," which are not really so, is the imperfect record that exists of preceding ages among their successors.
those that . . . come after--that is, those that live still later than the "things, rather the persons or generations, Ecc 1:4, with which this verse is connected, the six intermediate verses being merely illustrations of Ecc 1:4 [WEISS], that are to come" (Ecc 2:16; Ecc 9:5).
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 1:11
There is no remembrance of former things,.... Which is the reason why some things that are really old are thought to be new; because either the memories of men fail them, they do not remember the customs and usages which were in the former part of their own lives, now grown old; or they are ignorant of what were in ages past, through want of history, or defect in it; either they have no history at all, or what they have is false; or if true, as there is very little that is so, it is very deficient; and, among the many things that have been, very few are transmitted to posterity, so that the memory of things is lost; therefore who can say with certainty of anything, this is new, and was never…
If they are swallowed up in oblivion, do not wonder because the present will suffer the same fate. Because nature tends towards evil, we are forgetful of the good; but when enjoyment of the good returns, oblivion envelopes evil. We have no remembrance of the first and last things which is as though he said that the events which introduced evil after man's original blessed state will erase the memory the last things. No such memory will exist in the future; the last state [hē eschatē katastasis] will utterly destroy the memory of evil deeds in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
If oblivion has overtaken things which were, do not be surprised; for those that now are will also be veiled in oblivion. When our nature inclined to evil we became forgetful of the good; when we are set free again for the good, evil in turn will be veiled in oblivion. For I think this is the meaning of the text, in which he says, "There is no memory for the first, and indeed for those who come last there will be no memory of them." It is as if he were saying that the memory of events which followed our blessed state at the beginning, through which humanity has come to be among evils, will be obliterated by what again supervenes at the end. For "there will be no memory of them with those who have come to be at the last." That means, the final restoration will make the memory of evil things utterly vanish in our nature, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever.
"There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after." In the same way as the past is concealed for us in forgetfulness, thus it is with those things which are either done now, or will be done. And because of this those men who have yet to be born, will not be able to know these things, and will live life in silence, and will be obscured as if they never existed, and that verse will be fulfilled, which says, "vanity of vanities, all is vanity", for even the Seraphim, the first and last, cover up their feet on account of the appearance of God. The Septuagint is similar here: "There is no memory of former things, and even of things which are to come, there will be no memory for them with those who will come after." That is observed from the Gospel because those who were first in time are first "before all others". [Cfr Matth. 20, 16.] And because God who is benevolent and forgiving remembers all things no matter how insignificant, he will not give as much glory to those who deserve to be first on account of their faults, as he will give to those who humbly wanted to be first. And so it says consequently: "there is no memory of the wise more than of the fool for ever." [Eccl. 2, 16.]
Dictionary and topics
Angel (Holy Trinity) · . — .
Nation · Promises of peace to — Promises of peace to
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
on Ecclesiastes 1:11
"Is there anything whereof it may be said: See, this is new? - it was long ago through the ages (aeons) which have been before us." The Semit. substantive verb ישׁ (Assyr. isu) has here the force of a hypothetical antecedent: supposing that there is a thing of which one might say, etc. The זה, with Makkeph, belongs as subject, as at Ecc 7:27, Ecc 7:29 as object, to that which follows. כּבר (vid., List, p. 193) properly denotes length or greatness of time (as כּברה, length of way). The ל of לע is that of measure: this "long ago" measured (Hitz.) after infinitely long periods of time. מלּ, ante nos, follows the usage of מלּף, Isa 41:26, and lpaa', Jdg 1:10, etc.; the past time is spoken of as…
no one will remember: We cannot count on anyone remembering anything that we think we have achieved.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 1:11
Also of the later generations that are to come. After us, will have no recollection in the generations that will be after them. And the Midrash Aggadah expounds this as referring to the obliteration of Amaleik’s remembrance, [whose remembrance] will ultimately be obliterated, as it is stated, “and the house of Eisav will have no survivor.”38Ovadyah 1:18.
