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?
For I have known To death Thou dost bring me back, And `to' the house appointed for all living.
The whole are going unto one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back unto the dust.
And all the days of Adam which he lived are nine hundred and thirty years, and he dieth.
And all the days of Enoch are three hundred and sixty and five years. And Enoch walketh habitually with God, and he is not, for God hath taken him.
Remember Thou that my life `is' a breath, Mine eye turneth not back to see good.
Many are saying, `Who doth show us good?' Lift on us the light of Thy face, O Jehovah, Thou hast given joy in my heart, From the time their corn and their wine Have been multiplied.
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.'
And the dust returneth to the earth as it was, And the spirit returneth to God who gave it.
They do not build, and another inhabit, They do not plant, and another eat, For as the days of a tree `are' the days of My people, And the work of their hands wear out do My chosen ones.
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,