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.
Yea, better H2896 is he than both H8147 they, which hath not yet H5728 been, who hath not seen H7200 the evil H7451 work H4639 that is done H6213 under the sun. H8121
And they went H3212 to bury H6912 her: but they found H4672 no more of her than H518 the skull, H1538 and the feet, H7272 and the palms H3709 of her hands. H3027
But thou art cast out H7993 of thy grave H6913 like an abominable H8581 branch, H5342 and as the raiment H3830 of those that are slain, H2026 thrust through H2944 with a sword, H2719 that go down H3381 to the stones H68 of the pit; H953 as a carcase H6297 trodden under feet. H947 Thou shalt not be joined H3161 with them in burial, H6900 because thou hast destroyed H7843 thy land, H776 and slain H2026 thy people: H5971 the seed H2233 of evildoers H7489 shall never H5769 be renowned. H7121
And Jacob H3290 said H559 unto Pharaoh, H6547 The days H3117 of the years H8141 of my pilgrimage H4033 are an hundred H3967 and thirty H7970 years: H8141 few H4592 and evil H7451 have the days H3117 of the years H8141 of my life H2416 been, and have not attained H5381 unto the days H3117 of the years H8141 of the life H2416 of my fathers H1 in the days H3117 of their pilgrimage. H4033
Children's H1121 children H1121 are the crown H5850 of old men; H2205 and the glory H8597 of children H1121 are their fathers. H1
G3303 The Son G5207 of man G444 goeth G5217 as G2531 it is written G1125 of G4012 him: G846 but G1161 woe G3759 unto that G1565 man G444 by G1223 whom G3739 the Son G5207 of man G444 is betrayed! G3860 it had been G2258 good G2570 for that G1565 man G846 if G1487 he G444 had G1080 not G3756 been born. G1080
Therefore thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of Jehoiakim H3079 king H4428 of Judah; H3063 He shall have none to sit H3427 upon the throne H3678 of David: H1732 and his dead body H5038 shall be cast out H7993 in the day H3117 to the heat, H2721 and in the night H3915 to the frost. H7140
And they shall spread H7849 them before the sun, H8121 and the moon, H3394 and all the host H6635 of heaven, H8064 whom they have loved, H157 and whom they have served, H5647 and after H310 whom they have walked, H1980 and whom they have sought, H1875 and whom they have worshipped: H7812 they shall not be gathered, H622 nor be buried; H6912 they shall be for dung H1828 upon the face H6440 of the earth. H127
All his days H3117 also he eateth H398 in darkness, H2822 and he hath much H7235 sorrow H3707 and wrath H7110 with his sickness. H2483 Behold that which I have seen: H7200 it is good H2896 and comely H3303 for one to eat H398 and to drink, H8354 and to enjoy H7200 the good H2896 of all his labour H5999 that he taketh H5998 under the sun H8121 all H4557 the days H3117 of his life, H2416 which God H430 giveth H5414 him: for it is his portion. H2506 Every man H120 also to whom God H430 hath given H5414 riches H6239 and wealth, H5233 and hath given him power H7980 to eat H398 thereof, and to take H5375 his portion, H2506 and to rejoice H8055 in his labour; H5999 this H2090 is the gift H4991 of God. H430
As arrows H2671 are in the hand H3027 of a mighty man; H1368 so are children H1121 of the youth. H5271 Happy H835 is the man H1397 that hath his quiver H827 full H4390 of them: they shall not be ashamed, H954 but they shall speak H1696 with the enemies H341 in the gate. H8179
As a snail H7642 which melteth, H8557 let every one of them pass away: H1980 like the untimely birth H5309 of a woman, H802 that they may not see H2372 the sun. H8121
And the king H4428 commanded H559 it so to be done: H6213 and the decree H1881 was given H5414 at Shushan; H7800 and they hanged H8518 Haman's H2001 ten H6235 sons. H1121 For the Jews H3064 that were in Shushan H7800 gathered themselves together H6950 on the fourteenth H702 H6240 day H3117 also of the month H2320 Adar, H143 and slew H2026 three H7969 hundred H3967 men H376 at Shushan; H7800 but on the prey H961 they laid H7971 not their hand. H3027
So they hanged H8518 Haman H2001 on the gallows H6086 that he had prepared H3559 for Mordecai. H4782 Then was the king's H4428 wrath H2534 pacified. H7918
And Haman H2001 told H5608 them of the glory H3519 of his riches, H6239 and the multitude H7230 of his children, H1121 and all the things wherein the king H4428 had promoted H1431 him, and how he had advanced H5375 him above the princes H8269 and servants H5650 of the king. H4428
And Rehoboam H7346 loved H157 Maachah H4601 the daughter H1323 of Absalom H53 above all his wives H802 and his concubines: H6370 (for he took H5375 eighteen H8083 H6240 wives, H802 and threescore H8346 concubines; H6370 and begat H3205 twenty H6242 and eight H8083 sons, H1121 and threescore H8346 daughters.) H1323
And of all my sons, H1121 (for the LORD H3068 hath given H5414 me many H7227 sons,) H1121 he hath chosen H977 Solomon H8010 my son H1121 to sit H3427 upon the throne H3678 of the kingdom H4438 of the LORD H3068 over Israel. H3478
And Ahab H256 had seventy H7657 sons H1121 in Samaria. H8111 And Jehu H3058 wrote H3789 letters, H5612 and sent H7971 to Samaria, H8111 unto the rulers H8269 of Jezreel, H3157 to the elders, H2205 and to them that brought up H539 Ahab's H256 children, saying, H559
And Eli H5941 blessed H1288 Elkanah H511 and his wife, H802 and said, H559 The LORD H3068 give H7760 thee seed H2233 of this woman H802 for the loan H7596 which is lent H7592 to the LORD. H3068 And they went H1980 unto their own home. H4725 And H3588 the LORD H3068 visited H6485 Hannah, H2584 so that she conceived, H2029 and bare H3205 three H7969 sons H1121 and two H8147 daughters. H1323 And the child H5288 Samuel H8050 grew H1431 before H5973 the LORD. H3068
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.