Ecclesiastes6

New American Standard

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¹There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is widespread among mankind:

²a person to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the opportunity to enjoy these things, but a foreigner enjoys them. This is futility and a severe affliction.

³If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,

⁴for a miscarriage comes in futility and goes into darkness; and its name is covered in darkness.

⁵It has not even seen the sun nor does it know it; yet it is better off than that man.

⁶Even if the man lives a thousand years twice, but does not see good things—do not all go to one and the same place?”

⁷All a person’s labor is for his mouth, and yet his appetite is not satisfied.

⁸For what advantage does the wise person have over the fool? What does the poor person have, knowing how to walk before the living?

⁹What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and striving after wind.

¹⁰Whatever exists has already been named, and it is known what man is; for he cannot dispute with the one who is mightier than he is.

¹¹For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a person?

¹²For who knows what is good for a person during his lifetime, during the few years of his futile life? He will spend them like a shadow. For who can tell a person what will happen after him under the sun?

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Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ecclesiastes 6.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: The vanity of riches. Also of long life and flourishing families. (1-6). The little advantage any one has in outward things. (7-12).

vv1-6

A man often has all he needs for outward enjoyment; yet the Lord leaves him so to covetousness or evil dispositions, that he makes no good or comfortable use of what he has. By one means or other his possessions come to strangers; this is vanity, and an evil disease. A numerous family was a matter of fond desire and of high honour among the Hebrews; and long life is the desire of mankind in general. Even with these additions a man may not be able to enjoy his riches, family, and life. Such a man, in his passage through life, seems to have been born for no end or use. And he who has entered on life only for one moment, to quit it the next, has a preferable lot to him who has lived long, but only to suffer.

vv7-12

A little will serve to sustain us comfortably, and a great deal can do no more. The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to give satisfaction. The poor man has comfort as well as the richest, and is under no real disadvantage. We cannot say, Better is the sight of the eyes than the resting of the soul in God; for it is better to live by faith in things to come, than to live by sense, which dwells only upon present things. Our lot is appointed. We have what pleases God, and let that please us. The greatest possessions and honours cannot set us above the common events of human life. Seeing that the things men pursue on earth increase vanities, what is man the better for his worldly devices? Our life upon earth is to be reckoned by days. It is fleeting and uncertain, and with little in it to be fond of, or to be depended on. Let us return to God, trust in his mercy through Jesus Christ, and submit to his will. Then soon shall we glide through this vexatious world, and find ourselves in that happy place, where there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore.

Key Words

isH3426Hebrew

יֵשׁ: there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be, as may suit the connection)

evilH7451Hebrew

רַע: bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral)

thatH834Hebrew

אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.

seenH7200Hebrew

רָאָה: to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)

underH8478Hebrew

תַּחַת: the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of, etc.

sunH8121Hebrew

שֶׁמֶשׁ: the sun; by implication, the east; figuratively, a ray, i.e. (architectural) a notched battlement

lies heavyH7227Hebrew

רַב: abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)

onH5921Hebrew

עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications

mankindH120Hebrew

אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)

manH376Hebrew

אִישׁ: a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)