16. No remembrance. Both fool and wise are soon forgotten by their fellow men. This statement is true, of course, so far as this world is concerned, but a man who orders his life in keeping with divine wisdom has an everlasting remembrance (Ps. 112:6; Prov. 10:7), and he can rejoice with confidence because his name is written in heaven (Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3).
Forgotten. The world forgets, but God remembers (see Mal. 3:16, 17; John 14:1-3).
And how. The latter part of 16 was probably meant to read, “How dieth the wise man like the fool!” In Hebrew as in English the adverb “how” may be used as an exclamation as well as an interrogation.