1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
1 There is H3426 an evil H7451 which I have seen H7200 under the sun, H8121 and it is common H7227 among men: H120
2 A man H376 to whom God H430 hath given H5414 riches, H6239 wealth, H5233 and honour, H3519 so that he wanteth H2638 nothing for his soul H5315 of all that he desireth, H183 yet God H430 giveth him not power H7980 to eat H398 thereof, but a stranger H376 H5237 eateth H398 it: this is vanity, H1892 and it is an evil H7451 disease. H2483
3 If a man H376 beget H3205 an hundred H3967 children, and live H2421 many H7227 years, H8141 so that the days H3117 of his years H8141 be many, H7227 and his soul H5315 be not filled H7646 with good, H2896 and also that he have no burial; H6900 I say, H559 that an untimely birth H5309 is better H2896 than he.
4 For he cometh H935 in with vanity, H1892 and departeth H3212 in darkness, H2822 and his name H8034 shall be covered H3680 with darkness. H2822
5 Moreover he hath not seen H7200 the sun, H8121 nor known H3045 any thing: this H2088 hath more rest H5183 than H2088 the other.
6 Yea, though H432 he live H2421 a thousand H505 years H8141 twice H6471 told, yet hath he seen H7200 no good: H2896 do not all go H1980 to one H259 place? H4725
7 All the labour H5999 of man H120 is for his mouth, H6310 and yet the appetite H5315 is not filled. H4390
8 For what hath the wise H2450 more H3148 than the fool? H3684 what hath the poor, H6041 that knoweth H3045 to walk H1980 before the living? H2416
9 Better H2896 is the sight H4758 of the eyes H5869 than the wandering H1980 of the desire: H5315 this is also vanity H1892 and vexation H7469 of spirit. H7307
10 That which hath been is named H7121 H8034 already, H3528 and it is known H3045 that it is man: H120 neither may H3201 he contend H1777 with him that is mightier H8623 than he.
11 Seeing there be H3426 many H7235 things H1697 that increase H7235 vanity, H1892 what is man H120 the better? H3148
12 For who knoweth H3045 what is good H2896 for man H120 in this life, H2416 all H4557 the days H3117 of his vain H1892 life H2416 which he spendeth H6213 as a shadow? H6738 for who can tell H5046 a man H120 what shall be after H310 him under the sun? H8121
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men:
2 a man to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacketh nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but an alien eateth it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:
4 for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;
5 moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other:
6 yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoy no good, do not all go to one place?
7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 For what advantage hath the wise more than the fool? `or' what hath the poor man, that knoweth how to walk before the living?
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
10 Whatsoever hath been, the name thereof was given long ago; and it is know what man is; neither can he contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?
12 For who knoweth what is good for man in `his' life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it `is' great on man:
2 A man to whom God giveth wealth, and riches, and honour, and there is no lack to his soul of all that he desireth, and God giveth him not power to eat of it, but a stranger eateth it; this `is' vanity, and it `is' an evil disease.
3 If a man doth beget a hundred, and live many years, and is great, because they are the days of his years, and his soul is not satisfied from the goodness, and also he hath not had a grave, I have said, `Better than he `is' the untimely birth.'
4 For in vanity he came in, and in darkness he goeth, and in darkness his name is covered,
5 Even the sun he hath not seen nor known, more rest hath this than that.
6 And though he had lived a thousand years twice over, yet good he hath not seen; to the same place doth not every one go?
7 All the labour of man `is' for his mouth, and yet the soul is not filled.
8 For what advantage `is' to the wise above the fool? What to the poor who knoweth to walk before the living?
9 Better `is' the sight of the eyes than the going of the soul. This also `is' vanity and vexation of spirit.
10 What `is' that which hath been? already is its name called, and it is known that it `is' man, and he is not able to contend with him who is stronger than he.
11 For there are many things multiplying vanity; what advantage `is' to man?
12 For who knoweth what `is' good for a man in life, the number of the days of the life of his vanity, and he maketh them as a shadow? for who declareth to man what is after him under the sun?
1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is frequent among men:
2 one to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and a sore evil.
3 If a man beget a hundred [sons], and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and also he have no burial, I say an untimely birth is better than he.
4 For it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness;
5 moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other.
6 Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 For what advantage hath the wise above the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?
9 Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
10 That which is hath already been named; and what man is, is known, and that he cannot contend with him that is mightier than he.
11 For there are many things that increase vanity: what is man advantaged?
12 For who knoweth what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell man what shall be after him under the sun?
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:
2 a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
3 If a man fathers a hundred children, and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he has no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:
4 for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.
5 Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other.
6 Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don't all go to one place?
7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
8 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living?
9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
10 Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he.
11 For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man?
12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;
2 A man to whom God gives money, wealth, and honour so that he has all his desires but God does not give him the power to have joy of it, and a strange man takes it. This is to no purpose and an evil disease.
3 If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he.
4 In wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.
5 Yes, it saw not the sun, and it had no knowledge; it is better with this than with the other.
6 And though he goes on living a thousand years twice over and does not see good, are not the two going to the same place?
7 All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.
8 What have the wise more than the foolish? and what has the poor man by walking wisely before the living?
9 What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
10 That which is, has been named before, and of what man is there is knowledge. He has no power against one stronger than he.
11 There are words without number for increasing what is to no purpose, but what is man profited by them?
12 Who is able to say what is good for man in life all the days of his foolish life which he goes through like a shade? who will say what is to be after him under the sun?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 6
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 6 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 6
Ec 6:1-12.
1. common—or else more literally,—"great upon man," falls heavily upon man.
2. for his soul—that is, his enjoyment.
God giveth him not power to eat—This distinguishes him from the "rich" man in Ec 5:19. "God hath given" distinguishes him also from the man who got his wealth by "oppression" (Ec 5:8, 10).
stranger—those not akin, nay, even hostile to him (Jer 51:51; La 5:2; Ho 7:9). He seems to have it in his "power" to do as he will with his wealth, but an unseen power gives him up to his own avarice: God wills that he should toil for "a stranger" (Ec 2:26), who has found favor in God's sight.
3. Even if a man (of this character) have very many (equivalent to "a hundred," 2Ki 10:1) children, and not have a "stranger" as his heir (Ec 6:2), and live long ("days of years" express the brevity of life at its best, Ge 47:9), yet enjoy no real "good" in life, and lie unhonored, without "burial," at death (2Ki 9:26, 35), the embryo is better than he. In the East to be without burial is the greatest degradation. "Better the fruit that drops from the tree before it is ripe than that left to hang on till rotten" [Henry].
4. he—rather "it," "the untimely birth." So "its," not "his name."
with vanity—to no purpose; a type of the driftless existence of him who makes riches the chief good.
darkness—of the abortive; a type of the unhonored death and dark future beyond the grave of the avaricious.
5. this—yet "it has more rest than" the toiling, gloomy miser.
6. If the miser's length of "life" be thought to raise him above the abortive, Solomon answers that long life, without enjoying real good, is but lengthened misery, and riches cannot exempt him from going whither "all go." He is fit neither for life, nor death, nor eternity.
7. man—rather, "the man," namely, the miser (Ec 6:3-6). For not all men labor for the mouth, that is, for selfish gratification.
appetite—Hebrew, "the soul." The insatiability of the desire prevents that which is the only end proposed in toils, namely, self-gratification; "the man" thus gets no "good" out of his wealth (Ec 6:3).
8. For—"However" [Maurer]. The "for" means (in contrast to the insatiability of the miser), For what else is the advantage which the wise man hath above the fool?"
What—advantage, that is, superiority, above him who knows not how to walk uprightly
hath the poor who knoweth to walk before the living?—that is, to use and enjoy life aright (Ec 5:18, 19), a cheerful, thankful, godly "walk" (Ps 116:9).
9. Answer to the question in Ec 6:8. This is the advantage:
Better is the sight of the eyes—the wise man's godly enjoyment of present seen blessings
than the (fool's) wandering—literally, walking (Ps 73:9), of the desire, that is, vague, insatiable desires for what he has not (Ec 6:7; Heb 13:5).
this—restless wandering of desire, and not enjoying contentedly the present (1Ti 6:6, 8).
10. Part II begins here. Since man's toils are vain, what is the chief good? (Ec 6:12). The answer is contained in the rest of the book.
That which hath been—man's various circumstances
is named already—not only has existed, Ec 1:9; 3:15, but has received its just name, "vanity," long ago,
and it is known that it—vanity
is man—Hebrew, "Adam," equivalent to man "of red dust," as his Creator appropriately named him from his frailty.
neither may he contend, &c.—(Ro 9:20).
11. "Seeing" that man cannot escape from the "vanity," which by God's "mighty" will is inherent in earthly things, and cannot call in question God's wisdom in these dispensations (equivalent to "contend," &c.),
what is man the better—of these vain things as regards the chief good? None whatever.
12. For who knoweth, &c.—The ungodly know not what is really "good" during life, nor "what shall be after them," that is, what will be the event of their undertakings (Ec 3:22; 8:7). The godly might be tempted to "contend with God" (Ec 6:10) as to His dispensations; but they cannot fully know the wise purposes served by them now and hereafter. Their sufferings from the oppressors are more really good for them than cloudless prosperity; sinners are being allowed to fill up their measure of guilt. Retribution in part vindicates God's ways even now. The judgment shall make all clear. In Ec 7:1-29, he states what is good, in answer to this verse.