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?
As a flower he hath gone forth, and is cut off, And he fleeth as a shadow and standeth not.
who do not know the thing of the morrow; for what is your life? for it is a vapour that is appearing for a little, and then is vanishing;
My portion `is' Jehovah, hath my soul said, Therefore I hope for Him. Good `is' Jehovah to those waiting for Him, To the soul `that' seeketh Him. Good! when one doth stay and stand still For the salvation of Jehovah. Good for a man that he beareth a yoke in his youth.
And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his works, for it `is' his portion; for who doth bring him in to look on that which is after him?
And good is not to the wicked, and he doth not prolong days as a shadow, because he is not fearing before God.
Man to vanity hath been like, His days `are' as a shadow passing by.
Lo, handbreadths Thou hast made my days, And mine age `is' as nothing before Thee, Only, all vanity `is' every man set up. Selah. Only, in an image doth each walk habitually, Only, `in' vain, they are disquieted, He heapeth up and knoweth not who gathereth them.
I have sought in my heart to draw out with wine my appetite, (and my heart leading in wisdom), and to take hold on folly till that I see where `is' this -- the good to the sons of man of that which they do under the heavens, the number of the days of their lives.
He hath declared to thee, O man, what `is' good; Yea, what is Jehovah requiring of thee, Except -- to do judgment, and love kindness, And lowly to walk with thy God?
The end of the whole matter let us hear: -- `Fear God, and keep His commands, for this `is' the whole of man.
for sojourners we `are' before Thee, and settlers, like all our fathers; as a shadow `are' our days on the land, and there is none abiding.
As a shadow when it is stretched out I have gone, I have been driven away as a locust.
Days of our years, in them `are' seventy years, And if, by reason of might, eighty years, Yet `is' their enlargement labour and vanity, For it hath been cut off hastily, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of Thine anger? And according to Thy fear -- Thy wrath? To number our days aright let `us' know, And we bring the heart to wisdom.
Remember, I pray Thee, what `is' life-time? Wherefore in vain hast Thou created All the sons of men?
I -- in righteousness, I see Thy face; I am satisfied, in awaking, `with' Thy form!
Jehovah `is' the portion of my share, and of my cup, Thou -- Thou dost uphold my lot.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 6
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
In this chapter,
Ecc 6:1-6
Solomon had shown, in the close of the foregoing chapter, how good it is to make a comfortable use of the gifts of God's providence; now here he shows the evil of the contrary, having and not using, gathering to lay up for I know not what contingent emergencies to come, not to lay out on the most urgent occasions present. This is an evil which Solomon himself saw under the sun, v. 1. A great deal of evil there is under the sun. There is a world above the sun where there is no evil, yet God causes his sun to shine upon the evil as well as upon the good, which is an aggravation of the evil. God has lighted up a candle for his servants to work by, but they bury their talent as slothful and unprofitable, and so waste the light and are unworthy of it. Solomon, as a king, inspected the manners of his subjects, and took notice of this evil as a prejudice to the public, who are damaged not only by men's prodigality on the one hand, but by their penuriousness on the other. As it is with the blood in the natural body, so it is with the wealth of the body politic, if, instead of circulating, it stagnates, it will be of ill consequence. Solomon as a preacher observed the evils that were done that he might reprove them and warn people against them. This evil was, in his days, common, and yet then there was great plenty of silver and gold, which, one would think, should have made people less fond of riches; the times also were peaceable, nor was there any prospect of trouble, which to some is a temptation to hoard. But no providence will of itself, unless the grace of God work with it, cure the corrupt affection that is in the carnal mind to the world and the things of it; nay, when riches increase we are most apt to set our hearts upon them. Now concerning this miser observe,
Ecc 6:7-10
The preacher here further shows the vanity and folly of heaping up worldly wealth and expecting happiness in it.
Ecc 6:11-12
Here,