The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 11:8 Explained

Ecclesiastes 11:8

KJV: But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

YLT: But, if man liveth many years, In all of them let him rejoice, And remember the days of darkness, For they are many! all that is coming is vanity.

Darby: but if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all, yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many: all that cometh is vanity.

ASV: Yea, if a man live many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But if a man  live  many  years,  [and] rejoice  in them all; yet let him remember  the days  of darkness;  for they shall be many.  All that cometh  [is] vanity. 

What does Ecclesiastes 11:8 Mean?

Context Summary

Ecclesiastes 11:1-10 - Live Not For Today Alone
The casting of bread upon the waters is an allusion to the oriental custom of casting rice-grains on the fields, when they lie submerged beneath the annual inundation of such a river as the Nile. To the inexperienced eye, this would seem the prodigality of waste, but the husbandman knows full well that he will meet his seed again with abundant returns. So it is in life, whether we befriend young boys and girls, or distribute tracts, or speak kind and loving words, or invest our money in philanthropic enterprise, we are casting our bread upon the waters to find it after many days in this world or the next.
But how wise the advice not to be always considering the winds and clouds, Ecclesiastes 11:3-4. There is considerable hazard in the life of the farmer. If he waits until all the conditions are favorable, he will never begin. So with our work for God. We must risk something. Often the word spoken at an apparently untoward moment will prove to be the word in season, while that spoken under the most favorable conditions will yield no return at all. God gives it a body as, and when, and how it pleaseth Him. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ecclesiastes 11

1  directions for charity
7  death in life and the day of judgment
9  in the days of youth

What do the individual words in Ecclesiastes 11:8 mean?

But if years many lives a man in them all [And] rejoices and yet let him remember - the days of darkness for many They will be all that is coming [is] vanity
כִּ֣י אִם־ שָׁנִ֥ים הַרְבֵּ֛ה יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָ֖ם בְּכֻלָּ֣ם יִשְׂמָ֑ח וְיִזְכֹּר֙ אֶת־ יְמֵ֣י הַחֹ֔שֶׁךְ כִּֽי־ הַרְבֵּ֥ה יִהְי֖וּ כָּל־ שֶׁבָּ֥א הָֽבֶל

שָׁנִ֥ים  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
הַרְבֵּ֛ה  many 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Infinitive absolute
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
יִחְיֶ֥ה  lives 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: חָיָה  
Sense: to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health.
הָאָדָ֖ם  a  man 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
בְּכֻלָּ֣ם  in  them  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
יִשְׂמָ֑ח  [And]  rejoices 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׂמַח  
Sense: to rejoice, be glad.
וְיִזְכֹּר֙  and  yet  let  him  remember 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: זָכַר 
Sense: to remember, recall, call to mind.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
יְמֵ֣י  the  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַחֹ֔שֶׁךְ  of  darkness 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: חֹשֶׁךְ  
Sense: darkness, obscurity.
הַרְבֵּ֥ה  many 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Infinitive absolute
Root: הַרְבָּה 
Sense: be or become great, be or become many, be or become much, be or become numerous.
יִהְי֖וּ  They  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
שֶׁבָּ֥א  that  is  coming 
Parse: Pronoun, relative, Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בֹּוא 
Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
הָֽבֶל  [is]  vanity 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.