Text -- Ecclesiastes 6:1-8 (NET)

Not Everyone Enjoys Life

6:1 Here is another misfortune that I have seen on earth, and it weighs heavily on people: 6:2 God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart desires, yet God does not enable him to enjoy the fruit of his labor– instead, someone else enjoys it! This is fruitless and a grave misfortune. 6:3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years– even if he lives a long, long time, but cannot enjoy his prosperity– even if he were to live forever– I would say, “A stillborn child is better off than he is!” 6:4 Though the stillborn child came into the world for no reason and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness, 6:5 though it never saw the light of day nor knew anything, yet it has more rest than that man– 6:6 if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die! 6:7 All of man’s labor is for nothing more than to fill his stomach– yet his appetite is never satisfied! 6:8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Ecc 6:2

All sorts of riches.

Wesley: Ecc 6:2

Because God gives him up to a base and covetous mind.

Wesley: Ecc 6:3

He hath not a contented mind and comfortable enjoyment of his estate.

Wesley: Ecc 6:3

Which as it never enjoyed the comforts, so it never felt the calamities of life.

Wesley: Ecc 6:4

The abortive; of whom alone, that passage is true, hath not seen the sun, Ecc 6:5.

Wesley: Ecc 6:4

Into the world.

Wesley: Ecc 6:4

To no purpose; without any comfort or benefit by it.

Wesley: Ecc 6:4

Without any observation or regard of men.

Wesley: Ecc 6:4

Shall be speedily and utterly forgotten.

Wesley: Ecc 6:5

Because he is free from all those encumbrances and vexations to which the covetuous man is long exposed.

Wesley: Ecc 6:6

Wherein he seems to have a privilege above an untimely birth.

Wesley: Ecc 6:6

He hath enjoyed no comfort in it, and therefore long life is rather a curse, than a blessing to him.

Wesley: Ecc 6:6

Whether their lives be long or short.

Wesley: Ecc 6:6

To the grave.

Wesley: Ecc 6:7

For meat.

Wesley: Ecc 6:7

Men are insatiable in their desires, and restless in their endeavours after more, and never say, they have enough.

Wesley: Ecc 6:8

In these matters. Both are subject to the same calamities, and partakers of the same comforts of this life.

Wesley: Ecc 6:8

More than the poor that doth not know this. He means such a poor man as is ingenious and industrious; fit for service and business.

JFB: Ecc 6:1

(Ecc 6:1-12)

JFB: Ecc 6:1

Or else more literally,--"great upon man," falls heavily upon man.

JFB: Ecc 6:2

That is, his enjoyment.

JFB: Ecc 6:2

This distinguishes him from the "rich" man in Ecc 5:19. "God hath given" distinguishes him also from the man who got his wealth by "oppression" (Ecc 5:8, Ecc 5:10).

JFB: Ecc 6:2

Those not akin, nay, even hostile to him (Jer 51:51; Lam 5:2; Hos 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" (Ecc 2:26), who has found favor in God's sight.

JFB: Ecc 6:3

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 (Ecc 6:2), and live long ("days of years" express the brevity of life at its best, Gen 47:9), yet enjoy no real "good" in life, and lie unhonored, without "burial," at death (2Ki 9:26, 2Ki 9:35), 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].

JFB: Ecc 6:4

Rather "it," "the untimely birth." So "its," not "his name."

JFB: Ecc 6:4

To no purpose; a type of the driftless existence of him who makes riches the chief good.

JFB: Ecc 6:4

Of the abortive; a type of the unhonored death and dark future beyond the grave of the avaricious.

JFB: Ecc 6:5

Yet "it has more rest than" the toiling, gloomy miser.

JFB: Ecc 6:6

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.

JFB: Ecc 6:7

Rather, "the man," namely, the miser (Ecc 6:3-6). For not all men labor for the mouth, that is, for selfish gratification.

JFB: Ecc 6:7

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 (Ecc 6:3).

JFB: Ecc 6:8

"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?"

JFB: Ecc 6:8

Advantage, that is, superiority, above him who knows not how to walk uprightly

JFB: Ecc 6:8

That is, to use and enjoy life aright (Ecc 5:18-19), a cheerful, thankful, godly "walk" (Psa 116:9).

Clarke: Ecc 6:2

A man to whom God hath given riches - A man may possess much earthly goods, and yet enjoy nothing of them. Possession and fruition are not necessarily joined together; and this is also among the vanities of life. It is worthy of remark, that it belongs to God as much to give the power to enjoy as it does to give the earthly blessings. A wise heathen saw this: -

Di tibi divitias dederant, artemque fruendi

Hor. Ep. lib. i., ep. 4, ver. 7

"The gods had given thee riches, and the art to enjoy them."

Clarke: Ecc 6:3

If a man beget a hundred children - If he have the most numerous family and the largest possessions, and is so much attached to his riches that he grudges himself a monument; an abortion in the eye of reason is to be preferred to such a man; himself is contemptible, and his life worthless. The abortion comes in with vanity - baulks expectation, departs in darkness - never opened its eyes upon the light, and its name is covered with darkness - it has no place in the family register, or in the chronicles of Israel. This, that hath neither seen the sun, nor known any thing is preferable to the miser who has his coffers and granaries well furnished, should he have lived a thousand years, and had a hundred children. He has seen - possessed, no good; and he and the abortion go to one place, equally unknown, and wholly forgotten.

Clarke: Ecc 6:7

All the labor of man - This is the grand primary object of all human labor; merely to provide for the support of life by procuring things necessary. And life only exists for the sake of the soul; because man puts these things in place of spiritual good, the appetite - the intense desire after the supreme good - is not satisfied. When man learns to provide as distinctly for his soul as he does for his body, then he will begin to be happy, and may soon attain his end.

Clarke: Ecc 6:8

For what hath the wise more than the fool? - They must both labor for the same end. Both depend upon the labor of themselves or others for the necessaries of life. Both must eat and drink in order to live; and the rich man can no more eat two meals at a time, than he can comfortably wear two changes of raiment. The necessaries of life are the same to both, and their condition in life is nearly similar; liable to the same diseases, dissolution, and death.

Defender: Ecc 6:3

"An untimely birth," resulting in the death of the infant, is better than a life lived away from God. The infant is safe in Christ and will be with Him eternally; those who live without God will spend eternity in hell."

TSK: Ecc 6:1

Ecc 5:13

TSK: Ecc 6:2

a man : Ecc 5:19; 1Ki 3:13; 1Ch 29:25, 1Ch 29:28; 2Ch 1:11; Dan 5:18

so : Ecc 2:4-10; Deu 8:7-10; Jdg 18:10; Job 21:9-15; Psa 17:14, Psa 73:7; Luk 12:19, Luk 12:20

yet : A man may possess much earthly goods, and yet have neither the heart nor power to enjoy them. Possession and fruition are not necessarily joined together; and this is also among the vanities of life, and was and still is a very ""common evil among men.""It belongs to God as much to give the power to enjoy, as it does to give earthly blessings.

but : Deu 28:33, Deu 28:43; Psa 39:6; Lam 5:2; Hos 7:9

vanity : Ecc 4:4, Ecc 4:8, Ecc 5:16

TSK: Ecc 6:3

a man : Gen 33:5; 1Sa 2:20, 1Sa 2:21; 2Ki 10:1; 1Ch 28:5; 2Ch 11:21; Est 5:11; Psa 127:4, Psa 127:5; Pro 17:6

so : Ecc 5:17-19; Gen 47:9

and also : 2Ki 9:35; Est 7:10, Est 9:14, Est 9:15; Isa 14:19, Isa 14:20; Jer 22:19, Jer 36:30

that an : Ecc 4:3; Job 3:16; Psa 58:8; Mat 26:24

TSK: Ecc 6:4

his name : Psa 109:13

TSK: Ecc 6:5

this : Job 3:10-13, Job 14:1; Psa 58:8, Psa 90:7-9

TSK: Ecc 6:6

though : Gen 5:5, Gen 5:23, Gen 5:24; Isa 65:22

yet : Ecc 6:3; Job 7:7; Psa 4:6, Psa 4:7, Psa 34:12; Isa 65:20; Jer 17:6

do : Ecc 3:20, Ecc 12:7; Job 1:21, Job 30:23; Heb 9:27

TSK: Ecc 6:7

the labour : Gen 3:17-19; Pro 16:26; Mat 6:25; Joh 6:27; 1Ti 6:6-8

appetite : Heb. soul, Ecc 6:3, Ecc 5:10; Luk 12:19

TSK: Ecc 6:8

what hath the wise : Ecc 2:14-16, Ecc 5:11

the poor : Gen 17:1; Psa 101:2, Psa 116:9; Pro 19:1; Luk 1:6; 1Ti 6:17

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Ecc 6:1

Common among - Rather, great (heavy) upon people.

Barnes: Ecc 6:3

No burial - For a corpse to lie unburied was a circumstance in itself of special ignominy and dishonor (compare the marginal references).

Barnes: Ecc 6:4

He ... his - Rather, it ... its. The untimely birth is spoken of.

Barnes: Ecc 6:5

Rather, it hath not seen nor known the sun: this (the untimely birth) hath rest rather than the other.

Barnes: Ecc 6:6

He live - Rather, he hath lived. "He"refers to the man Ecc 6:3. His want of satisfaction in life, and the dishonor done to his corpse, are regarded as such great evils that they counterbalance his numerous children, and length of days, and render his lot viewed as a whole no better than the common lot of all.

Barnes: Ecc 6:7-9

Connect these verses with Ecc 6:2-3 : "All labor is undertaken with a view to some profit, but as a rule the people who labor are never satisfied. What advantage then has he who labors if (being rich) he is wise, or if being poor he knows how to conduct himself properly; what advantage have such laborers above a fool? (None, so far as they are without contentment, for) a thing present before the eyes is preferable to a future which exists only in the desire."

Ecc 6:8

What - literally, what profit (as in Ecc 1:3).

Knoweth ... living - i. e., "Knows how to conduct himself rightly among his contemporaries."

Poole: Ecc 6:2

Wealth all sorts of riches, as gold and silver, cattle and lands, &c.

Of all that he desireth which he doth or can reasonably desire.

Giveth him not power to eat either because they are suddenly taken away from him by the hand and curse of God, and given to others; or because God gives him up to a base and covetous mind, which is both a sin and a place. Thereof , i.e. any considerable part of it; whereas the stranger eateth not thereof, but it, i.e. all of it; devoureth it all in an instant.

Poole: Ecc 6:3

An hundred children i.e. very many children, to whom he intends to leave his estate.

Live many years which is the chief thing that he desires, and which giveth him opportunity of increasing his estate vastly.

The days he saith days, because the years of men’ s life are but few.

Be not filled with good hath not a contented mind and comfortable enjoyment of his estate whilst he lives. Have no burial ; and if after his death he hath either none, or a mean and dishonourable burial, because his sordid and covetous carriage made him hateful and contemptible to all persons, his children and heirs not excepted, and he was by all sorts of men thought unworthy of any testimonies of honour, either in his life or after his death. Thus he describes a man who lives miserably, and dies ignominiously.

An untimely birth which as it never enjoyed the comforts, so it never felt the calamities, of this life, which are far more considerable than its comforts, at least to a man that denied himself the comforts, and plunged himself into the toils and vexations, of this life.

Poole: Ecc 6:4

For or rather, although , as this particle is frequently rendered. For this verse seems to contain not so much a reason of what he last said, that an untimely birth is better than he , as an answer to an exception which might be made against it. Although all that is here said be true of the abortive, yet it is better than he. He ; either,

1. The covetous man. Or rather,

2. The abortive; of whom alone, and not of the former, that passage is true, he hath not seen the sun, Ecc 6:5 . Cometh in ; into the world, this word being oft put for a man’ s being born, as Job 1:21 Ecc 5:15 . With vanity ; or, in vain , to no purpose; without any comfort or benefit by it, which also is in a great measure the case of the covetous wretch.

Departeth in darkness dieth obscurely, without any observation or regard of men.

Shall be covered with darkness shall be speedily and utterly forgotten; whereas the name of such wicked men shall rot, and be remembered to their shame.

Poole: Ecc 6:5

He hath not seen the sun he never beheld the light, and therefore it is not grievous to him to want it; whereas the covetous man saw that light was very pleasant, and therefore the loss of it was irksome to him.

Nor known any thing hath had no knowledge, sense, or experience of any thing, whether good or evil.

Hath more rest because he is perfectly free from all those encumbrances and vexatious to which the covetous man is long exposed.

Poole: Ecc 6:6

Live a thousand years twice told wherein he seems to have a privilege above an untimely birth. Hath he seen no good ; he hath enjoyed little or no comfort in it, and therefore long life is rather a curse and mischief than a blessing or advantage to him.

Do not all whether born out of and before their time, or in due time, whether their lives be long or short,

go to one place to the grave. And so after a little time all are alike as to this life, of which he here speaks; and as to the other life, his condition is infinitely worse than that of an untimely birth.

Poole: Ecc 6:7

For his mouth for meat to put into his mouth, that he may get food; and as bread is oft put for all food, so food is put for all necessary provisions for this life, as Pro 30:8 , and elsewhere; whereof this is the chief, for which a man will sell his house and lands, yea, the very garments upon his back.

Is not filled: although all that a man can go: by his labours is but necessary food, which the meanest sort of men commonly enjoy, as is observed in the next verse; yet such is the vanity of this world, and the folly of mankind, that men are insatiable in their desires, and restless in their endeavours, after more and more, and never say they have enough.

Poole: Ecc 6:8

The fool to wit, in these matters. Both are equally subject to the same calamities, and partakers of the same comforts of this life.

Before the living to wit, before the poor, that doth not know this; which words are easily understood by comparing this clause with the former. And such defects are usual, both in Scripture and other authors, as hath been formerly noted, by a figure which the learned call anantapodoton . And by this phrase, that knoweth, &c., he means such a poor man who is ingenious and industrious; who is fit for service and business, and knows how to carry himself towards rich men, so as to deserve and gain their favour, and to procure a livelihood.

Haydock: Ecc 6:2

Thereof. " Di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi. " (Horace, i. Ep. 4.) ---

The proper use of riches is rare. (Calmet) ---

Misery. Riches do not make people happy. (Worthington)

Haydock: Ecc 6:3

Than he, since the latter has injured no one, nor experienced any evil in the world, (Calmet) by his own fault; (Menochius) whereas the miser has both hurt himself and others, and has neglected to make himself friends of the mammon of iniquity.

Haydock: Ecc 6:4

He. The infant, though some explain it of the miser. (Calmet)

Haydock: Ecc 6:7

Mouth. We are always providing food. (St. Jerome) ---

The rich are wholly bent on pleasure; or the poor cannot get a sufficiency.

Haydock: Ecc 6:8

Life. The wise poor shall be blessed. Hebrew, "the poor knowing how to walk before the living," (Haydock) in society (Calmet) among the saints. (Haydock)

Gill: Ecc 6:1

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun,.... The Vulgate Latin version reads it, another evil; but wrongly, for the same is considered as before, the evil of covetousness; which is one of the evil things that come out of the heart of man; is abominable to the Lord, contrary to his nature and will, and a breach of his law, which forbids it, and is the root of all evil; this is an evil under the sun, for there is nothing of this kind above it; and it fell under the observation of Solomon in various instances;

and it is common among men; or, "great over men" ^u; or "over the man", the covetous man: it spreads itself over them; few were free from it, even so long ago, in those early times, and in such times in which silver was made no account of, and was like stones in Jerusalem, as common as they; and yet the sin of covetousness, of hoarding up money and making no use of it, for a man's own good, and the good of others, was very rife among men, 1Ki 10:27.

Gill: Ecc 6:2

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour,.... By "riches" may be meant gold and silver, things which a covetous man is never satisfied with; and by "wealth", cattle, with which farms and fields are stocked: the wealth of men, especially in former times, and in the eastern countries, lay very much in these, as did the wealth of Abraham and Job, Gen 13:2; and all these, as they are reckoned glorious and honourable in themselves; so they create honour and glory among men, and raise to high and honourable places; and these, as they go, they are usually put together, and are called by the name of honour and glory itself; see Pro 3:16. And they are all the gifts of God, which he either as blessings bestows upon men, or suffers men to attain unto, though a curse may go along with them; which is the case here, for no man whatever is possessed of them but by the will of God or his divine permission; see 1Ch 29:12; and which a man may, and sometimes has, such a plentiful portion of;

so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth: he has not only for the supply of his wants, what is necessary for his daily use and service, but even what is for delight and pleasure; yea, as much as he could reasonably wish for; nay, more than heart could wish, Psa 73:7;

yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof; the Targum adds, "because of his sin"; either he takes it away from him, he making no use of it; or his appetite is taken away, that he has no desire to it; or rather he has no heart to enjoy what he has, and scarce any part of it; not to eat and drink, and wear suitably to his circumstances, but grudges whatever he lays out on his back or belly, or in housekeeping in his family; for though God gives him a large substance, yet not a heart to make use of it, without which he cannot enjoy it; and therefore it would have been as good, or better for him, to have been without it; see Ecc 5:19;

but a stranger eateth it; the Syriac version adds, "after him"; enjoys it, not only a part of it, but the whole; one that is not akin to him, and perhaps was never known by him; and yet, by one means or another, either in a lawful or unlawful way, comes into the possession of all he has; this has been always reckoned a great unhappiness, Lam 5:2. Hence it follows,

this is vanity, and it is an evil disease; it is a vain thing to be possessed of great substance, and not enjoy anything of it in a comfortable way, through the sin of covetousness; which is a spiritual disease, and a very bad one; very prejudicial to the soul, and the state of it, and is rarely cured. Juvenal ^w calls it frenzy and madness for a man to live poor, that be may die rich; he is like the ass that Crassus Agelastus saw, loaded with figs, and eating thorns.

Gill: Ecc 6:3

If a man beget an hundred children,.... Sons and daughters, a certain number for an uncertain. Some have had many children, and almost this number; Rehoboam had twenty eight sons and threescore daughters; and Ahab had seventy sons, how many daughters is not said, 2Ch 11:21; this was reckoned a great honour and happiness to have many children; happy was the man that had his quiver full of them, Psa 127:3; such a case is here supposed;

and live many years, so that the days of his years be many; or "sufficient", as Jarchi interprets it; he lives as long as life is desirable; lives to a good old age, to the full age of men, threescore years and ten; yea, supposing he was to live to be as old as Methuselah,

and his soul be not filled with good; does not enjoy the good things he has; has no pleasure nor satisfaction in the temporal good things of life, has not the comfort of them, and is always uneasy, because he has not more of them; and especially if his soul is not filled with spiritual good things, the grace of God, and righteousness of Christ;

And also that he have no burial; as Jezebel, Jehoiakim, and others; who is either destroyed by robbers and cutthroats, for the sake of his substance, and cast into a ditch or a river, or some place, where he is never found to be interred; or else, being of such a sordid disposition, he provides not for a decent burial, suitably to his circumstances, or forbids one; or, being despised and disesteemed by all men, his heirs and successors either neglect or refuse to give him one; see Jer 22:29;

I say that an untimely birth is better than he; an abortive is to be preferred unto him; it would have been better for him if he had never been born, or had been in such a case.

Gill: Ecc 6:4

For he cometh in with vanity,.... The Targum adds, "into this world." Some understand this of the abortive, and render it, "though he cometh in with vanity" ^x, yet is to be preferred to the covetous man: others interpret it of the covetous man himself; and scrape of both: or, however, they may be compared together in these instances; the abortive comes into the world in vain, for nothing, and answers no purpose, as can well be observed; and the same may be said of a covetous rich man; he walks in a vain show, and is altogether vanity, in his coming in, in his life, and going out;

and departeth in darkness; or, "into darkness" ^y; goes out of the world without any notice taken of him; and goes down to the dark grave, where he lies in obscurity;

and his name shall be covered with darkness; the abortive has no name, and is never spoken of; and so the name and memory of such a man as is here described rot and perish: and in this respect the abortive has the preference to him; for though he is covered with darkness, yet no ill is ever spoken of him; whereas the name of the wicked covetous man is cursed.

Gill: Ecc 6:5

Moreover, he hath not seen the sun,.... This must be spoken of the abortive, and seems to confirm the sense of the former text, as belonging to it; and whereas it has never seen the light of the sun, nor enjoyed the pleasure and comfort of it, it is no ways distressing to it to be without it. The Targum is,

"the light of the law he seeth not; and knoweth not between good and evil, to judge between this world and that to come:''

so the Vulgate Latin version, "neither knows the difference of good and evil";

nor known anything; not the sun, nor anything else: or "experienced" ^z and "felt" the heat of the sun, and its comfortable influences; which a man may, who is blind, and has never seen it, but an abortive has not; and indeed has known no man, nor any creature nor thing in this world, and therefore it is no concern to it to be without them; and besides, has never had any knowledge or experience of the troubles of lifts, which every living man is liable to. Wherefore this is certain,

this hath more rest than the other; that is, the abortive than the covetous man; having never been distressed with the troubles of life, and now not affected with the sense of loss.

Gill: Ecc 6:6

Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told,.... Or two thousand years, which no man ever did, nor even one thousand years; Methuselah, the oldest man, did not live so long as that; this is than twice the age of the oldest man: there is one sort of the Ethiopians, who are said ^a to live almost half space of time longer than usual, called from thence Macrobii; which Pliny ^b makes to be one hundred and forty years, which is just double the common term of life. This here is only a supposition. Aben Ezra interprets it, "a thousand thousand", but wrongly; so the Arabic version, "though he lives many thousand years";

yet hath he seen no good, not enjoyed the good of his labour, what he has been labouring for and was possessed of; and therefore has lived so long as he has to very little purpose, and with very little comfort or credit; and especially he has had no experience of spiritual good;

do not all go to one place? that is, the grave; they do, even all men; it is the house appointed for all living, Job 30:23; and hither go both the abortive, and the covetous rich man; so that he has in this no pre-eminence to it. Jarchi interprets it of hell, the one place, whither all sinners go; but the former sense is best.

Gill: Ecc 6:7

All the labour of man is for his mouth,.... For the food of his mouth, as the Targum; for the sustenance of his body, for food and clothing, part being put for the whole: all that a man labours for is to get this; and if he does not enjoy it, his labour is in vain; meats are for the belly, which are taken in by the mouth, and for these a man labours; and if he does not eat them, when he has got them, he labours to no purpose;

and yet the appetite is not filled; even the bodily or sensual appetite; no, not even by those who eat the fruit of their labour; for though their hunger is allayed for the present, and the appetite is satisfied for a while, yet it returns again, and requires more food, and so continually: or, "the soul is not filled", or "satisfied" ^c; it is the body only that is filled or satisfied with such things, at best; the mind of man grasps after greater things, and can find no contentment or satisfaction in earthly or sensual enjoyments. This seems to be a new argument, proving the vanity of riches, from the narrow use of them; which only reaches to the body, not to the soul.

Gill: Ecc 6:8

For what hath the wise more than the fool,.... More delight and pleasure, in gratifying his senses, by eating and drinking: the wise man enjoys no more than the fool; the fool finds as much pleasure in the labour of his hands, which is for his mouth, as the wise man does; and the wise man can get no more satisfaction to his mind, from these outward gratifications, than the fool;

what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? either, what does the poor man want more than the rich man, that knows how to get his bread, and is diligent and industrious among men to live, and does get a livelihood for himself and family; he enjoys all the sweets and comforts of life, as well as the rich man: or what hath the poor knowing man? as Aben Ezra interprets it, according to the accents; what has he more or does he enjoy more, than the poor foolish man, provided he has but sense enough to behave himself among men, so as to have bread to eat, and clothes to wear; which is as much as any man can enjoy, be he ever so rich or so wise?

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Ecc 6:1

¹ tn The term יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is”) is often used in aphorisms to assert the existence of a particular situation that occurs sometimes. It may indicate that the situation is not the rule but that it does occur on occasion, and may be nuanced “sometimes” (Prov 11:24; 13:7, 23; 14:12; 16:25; 18:24; 20:15; Eccl 2:21; 4:8; 5:12; 6:1; 7:15 [2x]; 8:14 [3x]).

² tn The noun רָעָה (ra’ah, “evil”) probably means “misfortune” (HALOT 1263 s.v. רָעָה 4) or “injustice, wrong” (HALOT 1262 s.v. רָעָה 2.b); see, e.g., Eccl 2:17; 5:12, 15; 6:1; 10:5.

³ tn Heb “under the sun.”

⁴ tn The word “weighs” does not appear in Hebrew, but is added in the translation for smoothness.

⁵ tn Heb “it is great upon men.” The phrase וְרַבָּה הִיא עַל־הָאָדָם (vÿrabbah hi’ ’al-ha’adam) is taken in two basic ways: (1) commonality: “it is common among men” (KJV, MLB), “it is prevalent among men” (NASB), “that is frequent among men” (Douay). (2) oppressiveness: “it lies heavy upon men” (RSV, NRSV), “it weighs heavily upon men” (NEB, NAB, NIV), “it presses heavily on men” (Moffatt), “it is heavy upon men” (ASV), and “a grave one it is for man” (NJPS). The preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) argues against the first in favor of the second; the notion of commonality would be denoted by the preposition בְּ (bet, “among”). The singular noun אָדָם (’adam) is used as a collective, denoting “men.” The article on הָאָדָם (ha’adam) is used in a generic sense referring to humankind as a whole; the generic article is often used with a collective singular (IBHS 244 §13.5.1f).

NET Notes: Ecc 6:2

¹ tn Heb “his appetite.”

² tn Heb “There is no lack in respect to his appetite”; or “his desire lacks nothing.”

³ tn The verb שָׁלַט (shalat) in the Qal stem means “to domineer; to dominate; to lord it over; to be master of” and in the Hiphil stem “to give power to” (BDB 1020 s.v. שָׁלַט) and “to grant” (HALOT 1522 s.v. שׁלט). God must grant a person the ability to enjoy the fruit of his labor, otherwise a person will not be able to enjoy his possessions and wealth. The ability to partake of the fruit of one’s labor and to find satisfaction and joy in it is a gift from God (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:13; 5:18 [19]; 9:7).

⁴ tn Heb “to eat of it.” The verb אָכַל (’akhal, “to eat”) functions as a metonymy of association, that is, the action of eating is associated with the enjoyment of the fruit of one’s labor (e.g., Eccl 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22; 5:17-19; 8:15; 9:9).

⁵ tn The phrase “the fruit of his labor” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “a stranger.” The Hebrew expression אִיש נָכְרִי (’ish nokhri, “stranger”) sometimes refers not to a foreigner or someone that the person does not know, but simply to someone else other than the subject (e.g., Prov 27:2). In the light of 6:3-6, it might even refer to the man’s own heirs. The term is used as a synecdoche of species (foreigner for stranger) in the sense of someone else other than the subject: “someone else” (BDB 649 s.v. נָכְרִי 3).

⁷ tn Heb “eats.”

⁸ sn Instead, someone else enjoys it. A person may be unable to enjoy the fruit of his/her labor due to an unfortunate turn of events that robs a person of his possessions (5:13-14) or a miserly, lifelong hoarding of one’s wealth that robs him of the ability to enjoy what he has worked so hard to acquire (5:15-17). Qoheleth recommends the enjoyment of life and the fruit of one’s labor, as God enables (5:18-20). Unfortunately, the ability to enjoy the fruits of one’s labor is often thwarted by the obstacles described in 6:1-2 and 6:3-9.

⁹ tn Heb “an evil sickness.”

NET Notes: Ecc 6:3

¹ tn Heb “the days of his years are many.”

² tn Heb “he has no burial.” The phrase וְגַם־קְבוּרָה לֹא־הָיְתָה (vÿgam-qÿvurah lo’-haytah, “he even has no burial”) is traditionally treated as part of a description of the man’s sorry final state, that is, he is deprived of even a proper burial (KJV, NEB, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NJPS, MLB, Moffatt). However, the preceding parallel lines suggest that this a hyperbolic protasis: “If he were to live one hundred years…even if he were never buried [i.e., were to live forever]….” A similar idea occurs elsewhere (e.g., Pss 49:9; 89:48). See D. R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” BKCOT, 990.

³ tn The noun נֶפֶל (nefel) denotes “miscarriage” and by metonymy of effect, “stillborn child” (e.g., Ps 58:9; Job 3:16; Eccl 6:3); cf. HALOT 711. The noun is related to the verb נָפַל (nafal, “to fall,” but occasionally “to be born”; see Isa 26:18); cf. HALOT 710 s.v. נפל 5.

⁴ sn The point of 6:3-6 is that the futility of unenjoyed wealth is worse than the tragedy of being stillborn.

NET Notes: Ecc 6:4

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (“the stillborn child”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The phrase “into the world” does not appear in Hebrew, but is added in the translation for clarity.

³ sn The birth of the stillborn was in vain – it did it no good to be born.

⁴ sn The name of the stillborn is forgotten.

NET Notes: Ecc 6:5

¹ tn Heb “it never saw the sun.”

² tn The word “anything” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

³ sn The Hebrew term translated rest here refers to freedom from toil, anxiety, and misery – part of the miserable misfortune that the miserly man of wealth must endure.

NET Notes: Ecc 6:6

¹ tn Heb “Do not all go to the same place?” The rhetorical question is an example of erotesis of positive affirmation, expecting a positive answer, e.g., Ps 56:13 [14] (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 947). It affirms the fact that both the miserly rich man who lives two thousand years, as well as the stillborn who never lived one day, both go to the same place – the grave. And if the miserly rich man never enjoyed the fruit of his labor during his life, his fate was no better than that of the stillborn who never had opportunity to enjoy any of the blessings of life. In a sense, it would have been better for the miserly rich man to have never lived than to have experienced the toil, anxiety, and misery of accumulating his wealth, but never enjoying any of the fruits of his labor.

NET Notes: Ecc 6:7

¹ tn The phrase “for nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “All man’s work is for his mouth.” The term “mouth” functions as a synecdoche of part (i.e., mouth) for the whole (i.e., person), substituting the organ of consumption for the person’s action of consumption (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 641-43), as suggested by the parallelism with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “his appetite”).

³ tn The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “desire; appetite”) is used as a metonymy of association, that is, the soul is associated with man’s desires and appetites (BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 5.c; 6.a).

NET Notes: Ecc 6:8

¹ sn So what advantage does the wise man have over a fool? The rhetorical question in Hebrew implies a negative answer: the wise man has no absolute advantage over a fool in the sense that both will share the same fate: death. Qoheleth should not be misunderstood here as denying that wisdom has no relative advantage over folly; elsewhere he affirms that wisdom does yield some relative benefits in life (7:1-22). However, wisdom cannot deliver one from death.

² sn As in the preceding parallel line, this rhetorical question implies a negative answer (see the note after the word “fool” in the preceding line).

³ tn Heb “ What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”

Geneva Bible: Ecc 6:2

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he lacketh nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet ^{( a )} God giveth him not power to eat of it, but a stranger eateth it: this [is] vanity, and it [is] an evil disease.

^{( a )} He shows that it is the plague of God when the rich man does not have a liberal heart to use his riches.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 6:3

If a man begetteth an hundred [children], and liveth many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not ^{( b )} filled with good, and also [that] he hath no ^{( c )} burial; I say, [that] an untimely birth [is] better than he.

^{( b )} If he can never have enough.

^{( c )} As we see often that the covetous man either falls into crimes that deserve death, or is murdered or drowned or hangs himself or such like and so lacks the honour of burial, which is the last office of humanity.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 6:4

For ^{( d )} he cometh with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

^{( d )} Meaning, the untimely fruit whose life neither profited nor hurt any.

Geneva Bible: Ecc 6:7

All the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the ^{( e )} appetite is not filled.

^{( e )} His desire and affection.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Ecc 6:1-12

1 The vanity of riches without use;

3 though a man have many children and a long life.

7 The vanity of sight and wandering desires.

10 The conclusion of vanities.

MHCC: Ecc 6:1-6

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.

MHCC: Ecc 6:7-12

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.

Matthew Henry: 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, Ecc 6:1. 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,

I. The abundant reason he has to serve God with joyfulness and gladness of heart; how well God has done for him.

1. He has given him riches, wealth, and honour, Ecc 6:2. Note, (1.) Riches and wealth commonly gain people honour among men. Though it be but an image, if it be a golden image, all people, nations, and languages, will fall down and worship it. (2.) Riches, wealth, and honour, are God's gifts, the gifts of his providence, and not given, as his rain and sunshine, alike to all, but to some, and not to others, as God sees fit. (3.) Yet they are given to many that do not make a good use of them, to many to whom God does not give wisdom and grace to take the comfort of them and serve God with them. The gifts of common providence are bestowed on many to whom are denied the gifts of a special grace, without which the gifts of providence often do more hurt than good.

2. He wants nothing for his soul of all that he desires. Providence has been so liberal to him that he has as much as heart could wish, and more, Psa 73:7. He does not desire grace for his soul, the better part; all he desires is enough to gratify the sensual appetite, and that he has; his belly is filled with these hidden treasures, Psa 17:14.

3. He is supposed to have a numerous family, to beget a hundred children, which are the stay and strength of his house and as a quiver full of arrows to him, which are the honour and credit of his house, and in whom he has the prospect of having his name built up and having all the immortality this world can give him. They are full of children (Psa 17:14), while many of God's people are written childless and stripped of all.

4. To complete his happiness, he is supposed to live many years, or rather many days, for our life is to be reckoned rather by days than years: The days of his years are many, and so healthful is his constitution, and so slowly does age creep upon him, that they are likely to be many more. Nay, he is supposed to live a thousand years (which no man, that we know of, ever did), nay, a thousand years twice told, a small part of which time, one would think, were enough to convince men, by their own experience, of the folly both of those that expect to find all good in worldly wealth, and of those that expect to find any good in it but in using it.

II. The little heart he has to use this which God gives him, for the ends and purposes for which it was given him. This is his fault and folly that he renders not again according to the benefit done unto him, and serves not the Lord God his benefactor, with joyfulness and gladness of heart, in the abundance of all things. In the day of prosperity he is not joyful. Tristis es, et felix? - Art thou happy, yet sad? See his folly: 1. He cannot find in his heart to take the comfort of what he has himself. He has meat before him; he has wherewith to maintain himself and his family comfortably, but he has not power to eat thereof. His sordid niggardly temper will not suffer him to lay it out, no, not upon himself, no, not upon that which is most necessary for himself. He has not power to reason himself out of this absurdity, to conquer his covetous humour. He is weak indeed, who has not power to use what God gives him, for God gives him not that power, but withholds it from him, to punish him for his other abuses of his wealth. Because he has not the will to serve God with it, God denies him the power to serve himself with it. 2. He suffers those to prey upon him that he is under no obligation to: A stranger eateth it. This is the common fate of misers; they will not trust their own children perhaps, but retainers and hangers-on, that have the art of wheedling, insinuate themselves into them, and find ways of devouring what they have, or getting it to be left to them by their wills. God orders it so that a stranger eats it. Strangers devour his strength, Hos 7:9; Pro 5:10. This may be well called vanity, and an evil disease. What we have we have in vain if we do not use it; and that temper of mind is certainly a most wretched distemper which keeps us from using it. Our worst diseases are those that arise from the corruption of our own hearts. 3. He deprives himself of the good that he might have had of his worldly possessions, not only forfeits it, but robs himself of it and throws it from him: His soul is not filled with good, Ecc 6:3. He is still unsatisfied and uneasy. His hands are filled with riches, his barns filled, and his bags filled, but his soul is not filled with good, no, not with that good, for it is still craving more. Nay (Ecc 6:6), he has not seen good; he cannot so much as please his eye, for that is still looking further and looking with envy on those that have more. He has not even the sensible good of an estate. Though he looks not beyond the things that are seen, yet he looks not with any true pleasure even on them. 4. He has no burial, none agreeable to his rank, no decent burial, but the burial of an ass. Through the sordidness of his temper he will not allow himself a fashionable burial, but forbids it, or the strangers that have eaten him up leave him so poor, at last, that he has not wherewithal, or those to whom he leaves what he has have so little esteem for his memory, and are so greedy of what they are to have from him, that they will not be at the charges of burying him handsomely, which his own children, if he had left it to them, would not have grudged him.

III. The preference which the preacher gives to an untimely birth before him: An untimely birth, a child that is carried from the womb to the grave, is better than he. Better is the fruit that drops from the tree before it is ripe than that which is left to hang on till it is rotten. Job, in his passion, thinks the condition of an untimely birth better than his when he was in adversity (Job 3:16); but Solomon here pronounces it better than the condition of a worldling in his greatest prosperity, when the world smiles upon him. 1. He grants the condition of an untimely birth, upon many accounts, to be very sad (Ecc 6:4, Ecc 6:5): He comes in with vanity (for, as to this world, he that is born and dies immediately was born in vain), and he departs in darkness; little or no notice is taken of him; being an abortive, he has no name, or, if he had, it would soon be forgotten and buried in oblivion; it would be covered with darkness, as the body is with the earth. Nay (Ecc 6:5), he has not seen the sun, but from the darkness of the womb he is hurried immediately to that of the grave, and, which is worse than not being known to any, he has not known any thing, and therefore has come short of that which is the greatest pleasure and honour of man. Those that live in wilful ignorance, and know nothing to purpose, are no better than an untimely birth that has not seen the sun nor known any thing. 2. Yet he prefers it before that of a covetous miser. This untimely birth has more rest than the other, for this has some rest, but the other has none; this has no trouble and disquiet, but the other is in perpetual agitation, and has nothing but trouble, trouble of his own making. The shorter the life is the longer the rest; and the fewer the days, and the less we have to do with this troublesome world, the less trouble we know.

'Tis better die a child at four,

Than live, and die so at fourscore.

The reason he gives why this has more rest is because all go to one place to rest in, and this is sooner at his rest, Ecc 6:6. He that lives a thousand years goes to the same place with the child that does not live an hour, Ecc 3:20. The grave is the place we shall all meet in. Whatever differences there may be in men's condition in this world, they must all die, are all under the same sentence, and, to outward appearance, their deaths are alike. The grave is to one, as well as another, a land of silence, of darkness, of separation from the living, and a sleeping-place. It is the common rendezvous of rich and poor, honourable and mean, learned and unlearned; the short-lived and long-lived meet in the grave, only one rides post thither, the other goes by a slower conveyance; the dust of both mingles, and lies undistinguished.

Matthew Henry: Ecc 6:7-10

The preacher here further shows the vanity and folly of heaping up worldly wealth and expecting happiness in it.

I. How much soever we toil about the world, and get out of it, we can have for ourselves no more than a maintenance (Ecc 6:7): All the labour of man is for his mouth, which craves it of him (Pro 16:26); it is but food and raiment; what is more others have, not we; it is all for the mouth. Meats are but for the belly and the belly for meats; there is nothing for the head and heart, nothing to nourish or enrich the soul. A little will serve to sustain us comfortably and a great deal can do no more.

II. Those that have ever so much are still craving; let a man labour ever so much for his mouth, yet the appetite is not filled. 1. Natural desires are still returning, still pressing; a man may be feasted today and yet hungry tomorrow. 2. Worldly sinful desires are insatiable, Ecc 5:10. Wealth to a worldling is like drink to one in a dropsy, which does but increase the thirst. Some read the whole verse thus: Though all a man's labour fall out to his own mind ( ori ejus obveniat - so as to correspond with his views, Juv.), just as himself would have it, yet his desire is not satisfied, still he has a mind to something more. 3. The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to give them any satisfaction. The soul is not filled, so the word is. When God gave Israel their request he sent leanness into their souls, Psa 106:15. He was a fool who, when his barns were full, said, Soul, take thine ease.

III. A fool may have as much worldly wealth, and may enjoy as much of the pleasure of it, as a wise man; nay, and perhaps not be so sensible of the vexation of it: What has the wise more than the fool? Ecc 6:8. Perhaps he has not so good an estate, so good a trade, nor such good preferment as the fool has. Nay, suppose them to be equal in their possessions, what can a wise man, a scholar, a wit, a politician, squeeze out of his estate more than needful supplies? and a half-witted man may do this. A fool can fare as well and relish it, can dress as well, and make as good a figure in any public appearance, as a wise man; so that if there were not pleasures and honour peculiar to the mind, which the wise man has more than the fool, as to this world they would be upon a level.

IV. Even a poor man, who has business, and is discreet, diligent, and dexterous, in the management of it, may get as comfortably through this world as he that is loaded with an overgrown estate. Consider what the poor has less than the rich, if he but knows to walk before the living, knows how to conduct himself decently, and do his duty to all, how to get an honest livelihood by his labour, how to spend his time well and improve his opportunities. What has he? Why, he is better beloved and more respected among his neighbours, and has a better interest than many a rich man that is griping and haughty. What has he? Why he has as much of the comfort of this life, has food and raiment, and is therewith content, and so is as truly rich as he that has abundance.

V. The enjoyment of what we have cannot but be acknowledged more rational than a greedy grasping at more (Ecc 6:9): Better is the sight of the eyes, making the best of that which is present, than the wandering of the desire, the uneasy walking of the soul after things at a distance, and the affecting of a variety of imaginary satisfactions. He is much happier that is always content, though he has ever so little, than he that is always coveting, though he has ever so much. We cannot say, Better is the sight of the eyes than the fixing of the desire upon God, and the resting of the soul in him; it is better to live by faith in things to come than to live by sense, which dwells only upon present things; but better is the sight of the eyes than the roving of the desire after the world, and the things of it, than which nothing is more uncertain nor more unsatisfying at the best. This wandering of the desire is vanity and vexation of spirit. It is vanity at the best; if what is desired, be obtained, it proves not what we promised ourselves from it, but commonly the wandering desire is crossed and disappointed, and then it turns to vexation of spirit.

VI. Our lot, whatever it is, is that which is appointed us by the counsel of God, which cannot be altered, and it is therefore our wisdom to reconcile ourselves to it and cheerfully to acquiesce in it (Ecc 6:10): That which has been, or (as some read it) that which is, and so likewise that which shall be, is named already; it is already determined in the divine foreknowledge, and all our care and pains cannot make it otherwise than as it is fixed. Jacta est alea - The die is cast. It is therefore folly to quarrel with that which will be as it is, and wisdom to make a virtue of necessity. We shall have what pleases God, and let that please us.

VII. Whatever we attain to in this world, still we are but men, and the greatest possessions and preferments cannot set us above the common accidents of human life: That which has been, and is, that busy animal that makes such a stir and such a noise in the world, is named already. He that made him gave him his name, and it is known that it is man; that is his name by which he must know himself, and it is a humbling name, Gen 5:2. He called their name Adam; and all theirs have the same character, red earth. Though a man could make himself master of all the treasures of kings and provinces, yet he is a man still, mean, mutable, and mortal, and may at any time be involved in the calamities that are common to men. It is good for rich and great men to know and consider that they are but men, Psa 9:20. It is known that they are but men; let them put what face they will upon it, and, like the king of Tyre, set their heart as the heart of God, yet the Egyptians are men, and not gods, and it is known that they are so.

VIII. How far soever our desires wander, and how closely soever our endeavours keep pace with them, we cannot strive with the divine Providence, but must submit to the disposals of it, whether we will or no. If it is man, he may not contend with him that is mightier than he. It is presumption to arraign God's proceedings, and to charge him with folly or iniquity; nor is it to any purpose to complain of him, for he is in one mind and who can turn him? Elihu pacifies Job with this incontestable principle, That God is greater than man (Job 33:12) and therefore man may not contend with him, nor resist his judgments, when they come with commission. A man cannot with the greatest riches make his part good against the arrests of sickness or death, but must yield to his fate.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 6:1

"There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and in great weight it lies upon man: a man to whom God giveth riches, and treasures, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he may wish, but God giveth him not power to have enjoyment of it, for a strange man hath the enjoyment: that is vanity and an evil disease."The author presents the result of personal observation; but inasmuch as he relates it in the second tense, he generalizes the matter, and places it scenically before the eyes of the reader. A similar introduction with ישׁ , but without the unnecessary asher , is found at Ecc 5:12; Ecc 10:5. Regarding בּה , vid ., under Ecc 8:6; על does not denote the subj., as at Ecc 2:17 : it appears great to a man, but it has its nearest lying local meaning; it is a great (Ecc 2:21) evil, pressing in its greatness heavily upon man. The evil is not the man himself, but the condition in which he is placed, as when, e.g. , the kingdom of heaven is compared to a merchant (Mat 13:45.), - not the merchant in himself, but his conduct and life is a figure of the kingdom of heaven.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 6:2

To עשׁר וּנך , as at 2Ch 1:11, וך and honour is added as a third thing. What follows we do not translate: "and there is nothing wanting ... ;"for that איננּוּ with the pleonastic suff. may mean: "there is not,"is not to be proved from Gen 39:9, thus: and he spares not for his soul (lxx καὶ οὐκ κ . τ . λ ) what he always desires. חסר is adj. in the sense of wanting, lacking, as at 1Sa 21:1-15 :16; 1Ki 11:22; Pro 12:9. לנפשׁו , "for his soul," i.e. , his person, is = the synon. לעצמו found in the later usage of the language; מן (different from the min , Ecc 4:8) is, as at Gen 6:2, partitive. The נכרי , to whom this considerable estate, satisfying every wish, finally comes, is certainly not the legal heir (for that he enters into possession, in spite of the uncertainty of his moral character, Ecc 2:19, would be in itself nothing less than a misfortune, yet perfectly in order, Ecc 5:13 [14]), but some stranger without any just claim, not directly a foreigner (Heiligst.), but, as Burger explains: talis qui proprie nullum habet jus in bona ejus cui נכרי dicitur (cf. נכריּה of the unmarried wife in the Book of Proverbs).

That wealth without enjoyment is nothing but vanity and an evil disease, the author now shows by introducing another historical figure, and thereby showing that life without enjoyment is worse than never to have come into existence at all:

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 6:3

"If a man begat an hundred, and lived many years, and the amount of the days of his years was great, and his soul satisfied not itself in good, and also he had no grave, then I say: Better than he is the untimely birth."The accentuation of 3 a is like that of 2 a . The disjunctives follow the Athnach , as at 2Ki 23:13, only that there Telisha Gedhola stands for Pazer . Hitzig finds difficulty with the clause לו ... וגם־ , and regards it as a marginal gloss to 5 a , taken up into the text at a wrong place. But just the unexpected form and the accidental nature, more than the inward necessity of this feature in the figure, leads us to conclude that the author here connects together historical facts, as conjecturally noted above, into one fanciful picture. מאה is obviously to be supplemented by ( ובנות ) בנים ; the Targ. and Midrash make this man to be Cain, Ahab, Haman, and show at least in this that they extend down into the time of the Persian kingdom a spark of historical intelligence. שׁן רבּ interchanges with שׁן הר , Ecc 11:8, as at Neh 11:30. In order to designate the long life emphatically, the author expresses the years particularly in days: "and if it is much which (Heiligst.: multum est quod ) the days of his years amount to;"cf. ימי ויּהיוּ , in Gen 5. With venaphsho there follows the reverse side of this long life with many children: (1) his soul satisfies not itself, i.e. , has no self-satisfying enjoyment of the good ( min , as at Psa 104:13, etc.), i.e. , of all the good things which he possesses, - in a word, he is not happy in his life; and (2) an honourable burial is not granted to him, but קב חם , Jer 22:19, which is the contrary of a burial such as becomes a man (the body of Artaxerxes Ochus was thrown to the cats); whereupon Elster rightly remarks that in an honourable burial and an honourable remembrance, good fortune, albeit shaded with sadness, might be seen. But when now, to one so rich in children and so long-lived, neither enjoyment of his good fortune nor even this shaded glory of an honourable burial is allowed, the author cannot otherwise judge than that the untimely birth is better than he. In this section regarding the uncertainty of riches, we have already, Ecc 5:14, fallen on a reminiscence from the Book of Job; it is so much the more probable that here also Job 3:16 has an influence on the formation of the thought. נפל is the foetus which comes lifeless from the mother's womb.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 6:4-5

The comparison of an untimely birth with such a man is in favour of the former: "For it cometh in nothingness and departeth in darkness; and with darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it hath not seen the sun, and hath not known: it is better with it than with that other."It has entered into existence, בּהבל , because it was a lifeless existence into which it entered when its independent life should have begun; and בּהשׁך , it departeth, for it is carried away in all quietness, without noise or ceremony, and "with darkness"its name is covered, for it receives no name and remains a nameless existence, and is forgotten as if it had never been. Not having entered into a living existence, it is also ( gam ) thus happy to have neither seen the sun nor known and named it, and thus it is spared the sight and the knowledge of all the vanities and evils, the deceptions and sorrows, that are under the sun. When we compare its fate with the long joyless life of that man, the conclusion is apparent: מ ... נחת , plus quietis est huic quam illi , which, with the generalization of the idea of rest (Job 3:13) in a wider sense, is = melius est huic quam illi ( זה ... זה , as at Ecc 3:19). The generalization of the idea proceeds yet further in the Mishn. נוח לו , e.g. : "It is better ( נוח לו לאדם ) for a man that he throw himself into a lime-kiln than that ( ואל ), etc."From this usage Symm. renders מ ... נחת as obj. to ידע לא , and translates: οὐδὲ ἐπειράθη διαφορᾶς ἑτέρου πράγματος πρὸς ἓτερον ; and Jerome: neque cognovit distantiam boni et mali , - a rendering which is to be rejected, because thus the point of the comparison in which it terminates is broken, for 5 b draws the facit. It is true that this contains a thought to which it is not easy to reconcile oneself. For supposing that life were not in itself, as over against non-existence, a good, there is yet scarcely any life that is absolutely joyless; and a man who has become the father of an hundred children, has, as it appears, sought the enjoyment of life principally in sexual love, and then also has found it richly. But also, if we consider his life less as relating to sense: his children, though not all, yet partly, will have been a joy to him; and has a family life, so lengthened and rich in blessings, only thorns, and no roses at all? And, moreover, how can anything be said of the rest of an untimely birth, which has been without motion and without life, as of a rest excelling the termination of the life of him who has lived long, since rest without a subjective reflection, a rest not felt, certainly does not fall under the point of view of more or less, good or evil? The saying of the author on no side bears the probe of exact thinking. In the main he designs to say: Better, certainly, is no life than a joyless life, and, moreover, one ending dishonourably. And this is only a speciality of the general clause, Ecc 4:2., that death is better than life, and not being born is better than both. The author misunderstands the fact that the earthly life has its chief end beyond itself; and his false eudaemonism, failing to penetrate to the inward fountain of true happiness, which is independent of the outward lot, makes exaggerated and ungrateful demands on the earthly life.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 6:6

A life extending to more than even a thousand years without enjoyment appears to him worthless: "And if he has lived twice a thousand years long, and not seen good - Do not all go hence to one place?"This long period of life, as well as the shortest, sinks into the night of Sheol, and has advantage over the shortest if it wants the ראות ט , i.e. , the enjoyment of that which can make man happy. That would be correct if "good"were understood inwardly, ethically, spiritually; but although, according to Koheleth's view, the fear of God presides over the enjoyment of life, regulating and hallowing it, yet it remains unknown to him that life deepened into fellowship with God is in itself a most real and blessed, and thus the highest good. Regarding אלּוּ (here, as at Est 7:4, with perf. foll.: etsi vixisset, tamen interrogarem: nonne , etc.); it occurs also in the oldest liturgical Tefilla , as well as in the prayer Nishmath ( vid ., Baer's Siddur, Abodath Jisrael , p. 207). פּ ... אלף , a thousand years twice, and thus an Adam's life once and yet again. Otherwise Aben Ezra: 1000 years multiplied by itself, thus a million, like פּעמים עשׂרים , 20 x 20 = 400; cf. Targ. Isa 30:26, which translates שׁבעתים by 343 = 7 x 7 x 7. Perhaps that is right; for why was not the expression שׁנה אלפּים directly used? The "one place"is, as at Ecc 3:20, the grave and Hades, into which all the living fall. A life extending even to a million of years is worthless, for it terminates at last in nothing. Life has only as much value as it yields of enjoyment.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 6:7

"All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet his soul has never enough;"or, properly, it is not filled, so that it desires nothing further and nothing more; נמלא used as appropriately of the soul as of the ear, Ecc 1:8; for that the mouth and the soul are here placed opposite to one another as "organs of the purely sensual and therefore transitory enjoyment, and of the deeper and more spiritual and therefore more lasting kind of joys"(Zöck.), is an assertion which brings out of the text what it wishes to be in it, - נפשׁ and פּה stand here so little in contrast, that, as at Pro 16:26; Isa 5:14; Isa 29:8, instead of the soul the stomach could also be named; for it is the soul longing, and that after the means from without of self-preservation, that is here meant; נפשׁ היפה , "beautiful soul," Chullin iv. 7, is an appetite which is not fastidious, but is contented. גּמו , καὶ ὃμως ὃμως δέ , as at Ecc 3:13; Psa 129:2. All labour, the author means to say, is in the service of the impulse after self-preservation; and yet, although it concentrates all its efforts after this end, it does not bring full satisfaction to the longing soul. This is grounded in the fact that, however in other respects most unlike, men are the same in their unsatisfied longing.

Keil-Delitzsch: Ecc 6:8

"For what hath the wise more than the fool; what the poor who knoweth to walk before the living?"The old translators present nothing for the interpretation, but defend the traditional text; for Jerome, like the Syr., which translates freely, follows the Midrash (fixed in the Targ.), which understands החיים , contrary to the spirit of the book, of the blessed future. The question would be easier if we could, with Bernst. and Ginsburg, introduce a comparat. min before יודע ; we would then require to understand by him who knows to walk before the living, some one who acts a part in public life; but how strange a designation of distinguished persons would that be! Thus, as the text stands, יודע ,sdnat is attrib. to לעני , what preference hath the poor, such an one, viz., as understands ( vid ., regarding יודע instead of היודע , under Psa 143:10); not: who is intelligent (Aben Ezra); יודע is not, as at Ecc 9:11, an idea contained in itself, but by the foll. הח ... לה (cf. Ecc 4:13, Ecc 4:14; and the inf . form, Exo 3:19; Num 22:13; Job 34:23) obtains the supplement and colouring required: the sequence of the accents ( Zakeph , Tifcha , Silluk , as e.g. , at Gen 7:4) is not against this. How the lxx understood its πορευθῆναι κατέναντι τῆς ζωῆς , and the Venet. it's ἀπιέναι ἀντικρὺ τῆς ζωῆς , is not clear; scarcely as Grätz, with Mendelss.: who, to go against ( נגד , as at Ecc 4:12) life, to fight against it, has to exercise himself in self-denial and patience; for "to fight with life"is an expression of modern coinage. הח signifies here, without doubt, not life, but the living. But we explain now, not as Ewald, who separates יודע from the foll. inf . להלך : What profit has then the wise man, the intelligent, patient man, above the fool, that he walks before the living? - by which is meant (but how does this interrog. form agree thereto?), that the wise, patient man has thereby an advantage which makes life endurable by him, in this, that he does not suffer destroying eagerness of desire so to rule over him, but is satisfied to live in quietness.Also this meaning of a quiet life does not lie in the words הח ... הלך . "To know to walk before the living"is, as is now generally acknowledged = to understand the right rule of life (Elst.), to possess the savoir vivre (Heiligst.), to be experienced in the right art of living. the question accordingly is: What advantage has the wise above the fool; and what the poor, who, although poor, yet knows how to maintain his social position? The matter treated of is the insatiable nature of sensual desire. The wise seeks to control his desire; and he who is more closely designated poor, knows how to conceal it; for he lays upon himself restraints, that he may be able to appear and make something of himself. But desire is present in both; and they have in this nothing above the fool, who follows the bent of his desire and lives for the day. He is a fool because he acts as one not free, and without consideration; but, in itself, it is and remains true, that enjoyment and satisfaction stand higher than striving and longing for a thing.

Constable: Ecc 2:18--6:10

B. General Observations 2:18-6:9

Thus far Solomon had reflected on the futility of all human endeavor generally (1:3-11) and the futility of human achievement (1:12-15) and his own achievements in particular (2:1-17). Next he turned to an evaluation of labor, his own (2:18-20) as well as that of all other people (2:21-6:9).

Constable: Ecc 5:1--6:10

4. The perishable fruits of labor 5:1-6:9

This section emphasizes the folly of trying to find ultimate satisfaction in one's work. Solomon focused on a variety of situations that involve the fruits of labor: money and what it can buy, fame, and pleasure.

Constable: Ecc 5:18--6:10

The way to enjoy the fruits of one's labor 5:18-6:9

Again Solomon urged the enjoyment of life (v. 18; cf. 2:24-26; 3:12-13, 22), but he warned of some obstacles to that enjoyment. Solomon was not advocating hedonism but the simple enjoyment of life day by day (v. 18). In other words, he recommended that we take some time to enjoy the beautiful experiences of life as we travel down its path.

However not everyone can enjoy life for one reason or another even though one may be wealthy (6:1-2). This problem "weighs heavily on men" (NIV, v. 1; better than NASB "is prevalent among men"). Only in heaven will we find the solution to why this has been the earthly portion of various individuals. A miscarried baby (v. 3) is better off in that it has not experienced as much sorrow as the rich man who could not enjoy his wealth. The "one place" (v. 6) is the grave.

Solomon's final word of counsel was to be content with what you have (vv. 8-9; cf. Heb. 13:5). This is the last of nine times the phrase "striving after wind" occurs (cf. 1:14, 17; 2:11, 17, 26; 4:4, 6, 16). It opened and closes the section of the book dealing with the futility of human achievement (1:12-6:9).

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Ecclesiastes (Book Introduction)

The Hebrew title is Koheleth, which the speaker in it applies to himself (Ecc 1:12), "I, Koheleth, was king over Israel." It means an Assembler or Convener of a meeting and a Preacher to such a meeting. The feminine form of the Hebrew noun, and its construction once (Ecc 7:27) with a feminine verb, show that it not only signifies Solomon, the Preacher to assemblies (in which case it is construed with the verb or noun masculine), but also Divine Wisdom (feminine in Hebrew) speaking by the mouth of the inspired king. In six cases out of seven it is construed with the masculine. Solomon was endowed with inspired wisdom (1Ki 3:5-14; 1Ki 6:11-12; 1Ki 9:1-9; 1Ki 11:9-11), specially fitting him for the task. The Orientals delight in such meetings for grave discourse. Thus the Arabs formerly had an assembly yearly, at Ocadh, for hearing and reciting poems. Compare "Masters of assemblies" (see on Ecc 12:11, also Ecc 12:9). "The Preacher taught the people knowledge," probably viva voce ("orally"); 1Ki 4:34; 1Ki 10:2, 1Ki 10:8, 1Ki 10:24; 2Ch 9:1, 2Ch 9:7, 2Ch 9:23, plainly refer to a somewhat public divan met for literary discussion. So "spake," thrice repeated (1Ki 4:32-33), refers not to written compositions, but to addresses spoken in assemblies convened for the purpose. The Holy Ghost, no doubt, signifies also by the term that Solomon's doctrine is intended for the "great congregation," the Church of all places and ages (Psa 22:25; Psa 49:2-4).

Solomon was plainly the author (Ecc 1:12, Ecc 1:16; Ecc 2:15; Ecc 12:9). That the Rabbins attribute it to Isaiah or Hezekiah is explicable by supposing that one or the other inserted it in the canon. The difference of its style, as compared with Proverbs and Song of Solomon, is due to the difference of subjects, and the different period of his life in which each was written; the Song, in the fervor of his first love to God; Proverbs, about the same time, or somewhat later; but Ecclesiastes in late old age, as the seal and testimony of repentance of his apostasy in the intervening period: Psa 89:30, Psa 89:33 proves his penitence. The substitution of the title Koheleth for Solomon (that is, peace), may imply that, having troubled Israel, meantime he forfeited his name of peace (1Ki 11:14, 1Ki 11:23); but now, having repented, he wishes to be henceforth a Preacher of righteousness. The alleged foreign expressions in the Hebrew may have been easily imported, through the great intercourse there was with other nations during his long reign. Moreover, supposed Chaldaisms may be fragments preserved from the common tongue of which Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic were offshoots.

THE SCOPE of Ecclesiastes is to show the vanity of all mere human pursuits, when made the chief end, as contrasted with the real blessedness of true wisdom, that is, religion. The immortality of the soul is dwelt on incidentally, as subsidiary to the main scope. Moses' law took this truth for granted but drew its sanctions of rewards and punishments in accordance with the theocracy, which was under a special providence of God as the temporal King of Israel, from the present life, rather than the future. But after Israel chose an earthly king, God withdrew, in part, His extraordinary providence, so that under Solomon, temporal rewards did not invariably follow virtue, and punishments vice (compare Ecc 2:16; Ecc 3:19; Ecc 4:1; Ecc 5:8; Ecc 7:15; Ecc 8:14; Ecc 9:2, Ecc 9:11). Hence the need arises to show that these anomalies will be rectified hereafter, and this is the grand "conclusion," therefore, of the "whole" book, that, seeing there is a coming judgment, and seeing that present goods do not satisfy the soul, "man's whole duty is to fear God and keep his commandments" (Ecc 12:13-14), and meanwhile, to use, in joyful and serene sobriety, and not abuse, the present life (Ecc 3:12-13).

It is objected that sensual epicurism seems to be inculcated (Ecc 3:12-13, Ecc 3:22, &c.); but it is a contented, thankful enjoyment of God's present gifts that is taught, as opposed to a murmuring, anxious, avaricious spirit, as is proved by Ecc 5:18, compare with Ecc 5:11-15, not making them the chief end of life; not the joy of levity and folly; a misunderstanding which he guards against in Ecc 7:2-6; Ecc 11:9; Ecc 12:1. Again, Ecc 7:16; Ecc 9:2-10, might seem to teach fatalism and skepticism. But these are words put in the mouth of an objector; or rather, they were the language of Solomon himself during his apostasy, finding an echo in the heart of every sensualist, who wishes to be an unbeliever, and, who, therefore, sees difficulties enough in the world around wherewith to prop up his wilful unbelief. The answer is given (Ecc 7:17-18; Ecc 9:11-12; Ecc 11:1, Ecc 11:6; Ecc 12:13). Even if these passages be taken as words of Solomon, they are to be understood as forbidding a self-made "righteousness," which tries to constrain God to grant salvation to imaginary good works and external strictness with which it wearies itself; also, that speculation which tries to fathom all God's inscrutable counsels (Ecc 8:17), and that carefulness about the future forbidden in Mat 6:25.

THE CHIEF GOOD is that the possession of that which makes us happy, is to be sought as the end, for its own sake; whereas, all other things are but means towards it. Philosophers, who made it the great subject of inquiry, restricted it to the present life, treating the eternal as unreal, and only useful to awe the multitude with. But Solomon shows the vanity of all human things (so-called philosophy included) to satisfy the soul, and that heavenly wisdom alone is the chief good. He had taught so when young (Pro 1:20; Pro 8:1); so also; in Song of Solomon, he had spiritualized the subject in an allegory; and now, after having long personally tried the manifold ways in which the worldly seek to reach happiness, he gives the fruit of his experience in old age.

It is divided into two parts-- Ecc. 1:1-6:10 showing the vanity of earthly things; Ecc. 6:10-12:14, the excellence of heavenly wisdom. Deviations from strict logical methods occur in these divisions, but in the main they are observed. The deviations make it the less stiff and artificial, and the more suited to all capacities. It is in poetry; the hemistichal division is mostly observed, but occasionally not so. The choice of epithets, imagery, inverted order of words, ellipses, parallelism, or, in its absence, similarity of diction, mark versification.

JFB: Ecclesiastes (Outline)

• INTRODUCTION. (Ecc. 1:1-18)

TSK: Ecclesiastes 6 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Ecc 6:1, The vanity of riches without use; Ecc 6:3, though a man have many children and a long life; Ecc 6:7, The vanity of sight and wandering desires; Ecc 6:10, The conclusion of vanities.

Poole: Ecclesiastes 6 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 6

The vanity of riches without use, Ecc 6:1,2 . Of children and old age without competent wealth; their obscurity is worse than not to have been, Ecc 6:3-6 . All labour is for necessaries of life, which one getteth as well as another, Ecc 6:7,8 . It is good for us to enjoy what we have, and not to desire what we have not; for our portion is appointed its; and we ourselves are vain; and other things do but increase our vanity, Ecc 6:9-12 .

MHCC: Ecclesiastes (Book Introduction)

The name of this book signifies " The Preacher." The wisdom of God here preaches to us, speaking by Solomon, who it is evident was the author. At the close of his life, being made sensible of his sin and folly, he recorded here his experience for the benefit of others, as the book of his repentance; and he pronounced all earthly good to be " vanity and vexation of spirit." It convinces us of the vanity of the world, and that it cannot make us happy; of the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make us miserable. It shows that no created good can satisfy the soul, and that happiness is to be found in God alone; and this doctrine must, under the blessed Spirit's teaching, lead the heart to Christ Jesus.

MHCC: Ecclesiastes 6 (Chapter Introduction)

(Ecc 6:1-6) The vanity of riches. Also of long life and flourishing families.

(Ecc 6:7-12) The little advantage any one has in outward things.

Matthew Henry: Ecclesiastes (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Ecclesiastes

We are still among Solomon's happy men, his happy servants, that stood continually before him to hear his wisdom; and they are the choicest of all the dictates of his wisdom, such as were more immediately given by divine inspiration, that are here transmitted to us, not to be heard, as by them, but once, and then liable to be mistaken or forgotten, and by repetition to lose their beauty, but to be read, reviewed, revolved, and had in everlasting remembrance. The account we have of Solomon's apostasy from God, in the latter end of his reign (1Ki 11:1), is the tragical part of his story; we may suppose that he spoke his Proverbs in the prime of his time, while he kept his integrity, but delivered his Ecclesiastes when he had grown old (for of the burdens and decays of age he speaks feelingly Ecc 12:1-14), and was, by the grace of God, recovered from his backslidings. There he dictated his observations; here he wrote his own experiences; this is what days speak, and wisdom which the multitude of years teaches. The title of the book and the penman we shall meet with in the first verse, and therefore shall here only observe,

I. That it is a sermon, a sermon in print; the text is (Ecc 1:2), Vanity of vanities, all is vanity; that is the doctrine too; it is proved at large by many arguments and an induction of particulars, and divers objections are answered, and in the close we have the use and application of all, by way of exhortation, to remember our Creator, to fear him, and to keep his commandments. There are indeed many things in this book which are dark and hard to be understood, and some things which men of corrupt minds wrest to their own destruction, for want of distinguishing between Solomon's arguments and the objections of atheists and epicures; but there is enough easy and plain to convince us (if we will admit the conviction) of the vanity of the world, and its utter insufficiency to make us happy, the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make us miserable, and of the wisdom of being religious, and the solid comfort and satisfaction that are to be had in doing our duty both to God and man. This should be intended in every sermon, and that is a good sermon by which these points are in any measure gained. II. That it is a penitential sermon, as some of David's psalms are penitential psalms; it is a recantation-sermon, in which the preacher sadly laments his own folly and mistake, in promising himself satisfaction in the things of this world, and even in the forbidden pleasures of sense, which now he finds more bitter than death. His fall is a proof of the weakness of man's nature: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor say, " I shall never be such a fool as to do so and so," when Solomon himself, the wisest of men, played the fool so egregiously; nor let the rich man glory in his riches, since Solomon's wealth was so great a snare to him, and did him a great deal more hurt than Job's poverty did him. His recovery is a proof of the power of God's grace, in bringing one back to God that has gone so far from him; it is a proof too of the riches of God's mercy in accepting him notwithstanding the many aggravations of his sin, pursuant to the promise made to David, that if his children should commit iniquity they should be corrected, but not abandoned and disinherited, 2Sa 7:14, 2Sa 7:15. Let him therefore that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall; and let him that has fallen make haste to get up again, and not despair either of assistance or acceptance therein. III. That it is a practical profitable sermon. Solomon, being brought to repentance, resolves, like his father, to teach transgressors God's way (Psa 51:13) and to give warning to all to take heed of splitting upon those rocks which had been fatal to him; and these were fruits meet for repentance. The fundamental error of the children of men, and that which is at the bottom of all their departures from God, is the same with that of our first parents, hoping to be as gods by entertaining themselves with that which seems good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise. Now the scope of this book is to show that this is a great mistake, that our happiness consists not in being as gods to ourselves, to have what we will and do what we will, but in having him that made us to be a God to us. The moral philosophers disputed much about man's felicity, or chief good. Various opinions they had about it; but Solomon, in this book, determines the question, and assures us that to fear God and to keep his commandments is the whole of man. He tried what satisfaction might be found in the wealth of the world and the pleasures of sense, and at last pronounced all vanity and vexation; yet multitudes will not take his word, but will make the same dangerous experiment, and it proves fatal to them. He, 1. Shows the vanity of those things in which men commonly look for happiness, as human learning and policy, sensual delight, honour and power, riches and great possessions. And then, 2. He prescribes remedies against the vexation of spirit that attends them. Though we cannot cure them of their vanity, we may prevent the trouble they give us, by sitting loose to them, enjoying them comfortable, but laying our expectations low from them, and acquiescing in the will of God concerning us in every event, especially by remembering God in the days of our youth, and continuing in his fear and service all our days, with an eye to the judgment to come.

Matthew Henry: Ecclesiastes 6 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter, I. The royal preacher goes on further to show the vanity of worldly wealth, when men place their happiness in it and are eager and inordinate in laying it up. Riches, in the hands of a man that is wise and generous, and good for something, but in the hands of a sordid, sneaking, covetous miser, they are good for nothing. 1. He takes an account of the possessions and enjoyments which such a man may have. He has wealth (Ecc 6:2), he has children to inherit it (Ecc 6:3), and lives long (Ecc 6:3, Ecc 6:6). 2. He describes his folly in not taking the comfort of it; he has no power to eat of it, lets strangers devour it, is never filled with good, and at last has no burial (Ecc 6:2, Ecc 6:3). 3. He condemns it as an evil, a common evil, vanity, and a disease (Ecc 6:1, Ecc 6:2). 4. He prefers the condition of a still-born child before the condition of such a one (Ecc 6:3). The still-born child's infelicity is only negative (Ecc 6:4, Ecc 6:5), but that of the covetous worldling is positive; he lives a great while to see himself miserable (Ecc 6:6). 5. He shows the vanity of riches as pertaining only to the body, and giving no satisfaction to the mind (Ecc 6:7, Ecc 6:8), and of those boundless desires with which covetous people vex themselves (Ecc 6:9), which, if they be gratified ever so fully, leave a man but a man still (Ecc 6:10). II. He concludes this discourse of the vanity of the creature with this plain inference from the whole, That it is folly to think of making up a happiness for ourselves in the things of this world (Ecc 6:11, Ecc 6:12). Our satisfaction must be in another life, not in this.

Constable: Ecclesiastes (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title of this book in the Hebrew text is all of verse 1. The Septuagint translation (third century B.C.) gave it the name "Ekklesiastes" from which the English title is a transliteration. This word is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word qohelet that the NASB translated "Preacher" in verse 1. The Hebrew word designates a leader who speaks before an assembly of people. The NIV translation "Teacher" is also a good one.

Writer and Date

The commentators sometimes treat the Hebrew word qohelet ("Preacher"; 1:1-2, 12; 7:27; 12:8-10) as a proper name.¹ However the fact that the article is present on the Hebrew word in 12:8, and perhaps in 7:27, seems to indicate that qohelet is a title: "the preacher" or "the teacher."

Internal references point to Solomon as this preacher (cf. 1:1, 12-2:26; 2:4-9; 12:9). Both Jewish and Christian interpreters believed Solomon was the writer until the eighteenth century. With the rise of literary and historical Bible criticism a widespread rejection of Solomonic authorship set in. Rejection of Solomonic authorship rests mainly on linguistic factors (vocabulary and syntax) that some scholars feel were more characteristic of a time much later than Solomon's, namely, about 450-250 B.C.² Conservative scholars have refuted this linguistic argument.³ Several more or less conservative scholars have rejected Solomonic authorship.⁴ Yet there is no information in the Bible that would eliminate Solomon as the writer.

Assuming that Solomon wrote the book in its entirety, he must have done so during his lifetime and probably during his reign (971-931 B.C.). It has seemed probable to some expositors that he may have written Song of Solomon in his youth, Proverbs in his middle life, and Ecclesiastes in his old age (cf. 2:1-11; 11:9; 12:1). This theory rests on the contents of the three inspired Bible books that he evidently wrote, specifically clues in these books about the age of their writer.

"Ecclesiastes is best placed after his apostasy, when both his recent turmoil and repentance were still fresh in his mind."⁵

Purpose

This book helps the reader develop a God-centered worldview and recognize the dangers of a self-centered worldview. It does not describe the life of faith or teach what the responsibilities of faith in God are. It also prescribes the limits of human philosophy (cf. 3:11; 8:16-17). The book teaches that people are accountable to God and that we should avoid self-indulgence that leads to the exploitation of others for selfish gain.

"Christians may ask how the stress on using and enjoying life tallies with the NT command Do not love the world' (1 John 2:15). The answer is that the Teacher (Ecclesiastes) would have agreed fully with John's next statement that everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away' (vv. 16-17). One could hardly find a better statement than this of the whole theme of Ecclesiastes (e.g., 2:1-11; 5:10). Life in the world has significance only when man remembers his Creator (12:1).

"There always have been two kinds of teaching about the way to holiness. One is by withdrawal as far as possible from the natural in order to promote the spiritual. The other is to use and transform the natural into the expression of the spiritual. While each kind of teaching has its place, some people need one emphasis rather than the other. Ecclesiastes definitely teaches the second."⁶

"Ecclesiastes does not pretend to preach the Gospel. Rather, it encourages the reader to a God-centered worldview rather than falling victim to frustrations and unanswered questions. None of its contents has to be rejected in the light of the NT. Although the NT revelation is vastly greater than that in Ecclesiastes, the two are not devoid of similarities (e.g., James 4:13-17). Like the people of God in Solomon's time, believers today are subject to the unexpected changes and chances common to mankind. Yet they know that God works through every vicissitude of life. Respecting the future, which for Solomon was shrouded in a shadow land, Christians have the glorious hope of being in the presence of Christ himself (2 Cor 5:6; Phil 1:23)."⁷

Message⁸

I believe that the message of Ecclesiastes is essentially a positive one. This may seem strange since the vanity of various human endeavors is such a major theme of this book. Nevertheless the total statement that Solomon made was positive.

He was saying, I believe, that even though every human endeavor lacks ultimate value, we should live life in the fear of God (i.e., with the proper recognition of Him). Furthermore we should enjoy life maximally as a gift from God. Ecclesiastes 12:13 is very similar to Proverbs 1:7 and 3:5-6. In both these books, as well as in Job, the fear of God is the prerequisite for successful living here and now.

The difference between Ecclesiastes and Proverbs is that in Ecclesiastes the emphasis is on the inability of every human endeavor to provide ultimate value. In Proverbs the emphasis is on the comparative value of living in the fear of God.

Solomon's attitude is very important for us to grasp to understand this book. He never lost sight of God's existence. He was not an atheist or even an apostate. The fact that Solomon kept God in view throughout the book enabled him to see that all is vanity under the sun. The person who disregards God does not say that. For him what is under the sun is all that is meaningful.

I do not believe Solomon did everything he said he did in rebellion against God. Some things were acts of disobedience, but many other things were experiments in living designed to discover the relative value of various experiences.

The major revelations of the book are three.

First, Ecclesiastes reveals that every human endeavor lacks ultimate value. All is vanity in that sense.

Solomon stated this thesis in 1:2.

Then Solomon supported his thesis with examples he took from nature (1:3-11).

Next Solomon appealed to various human achievements to apply his thesis. He did this first by citing his own personal experiments and observations on this subject (1:12-2:17). Then he referred to facts observable by all people that confirm the same conclusion (2:18-6:9).

Solomon next showed that every human endeavor lacks ultimate value by reminding us of the limits of human wisdom (6:10-11:6). He supported these assertions also with empirical evidence (what people experience generally in life). God's will will indeed happen. However man does not know God's plan fully. Therefore man does not know exactly what will happen.

The second major revelation of this book is that people should live life in the fear of God and enjoy life as much as they can. This is really Solomon's practical conclusion to the truthfulness of the thesis that he proved in 1:3-11:6.

Since death is coming we should enjoy life now, not in disregard for God, but in the fear of God (11:7-8).

We should enjoy life in our youth while at the same time remembering that God will judge our lives (11:9-10). Moreover we should behave responsibly in our youth since old age is coming (12:1-7).

The third major revelation of the book is its statement of what true wisdom is (12:13). God intends people to rejoice, but to remember God and to live with recognition of Him (cf. Prov. 3:5-6). Failing to fear God will result in a life of vanity. To fear God and live in harmony with His will will result in a life of fullness.

Let me point out some implications of the teaching of this book.

Conviction results in conduct that produces character. That is a basic reality of life regardless of what one's convictions may be. When we have a conviction that God exists and we live under His loving authority, our conduct will be obedience to His will. Furthermore responsibility and joy will mark our character. However if we believe that God either does not exist or is not worth consideration, our conduct will be disregard of His will, and vanity will mark our character.

To dethrone God is to lose the key to life. We may pursue many human endeavors, but all we will find is vanity, lack of ultimate fulfillment. On the other hand if we enthrone God we will enter into the fullness of life (John 17:3; Ps. 16:11).

Outline⁹

I. The introductory affirmation 1:1-11

A. Title and theme 1:1-2

1. The title 1:1

2. The theme 1:2

B. The futility of all human endeavor 1:3-11

1. The vanity of work 1:3

2. The illustrations from life 1:4-11

II. The futility of work 1:12-6:9

A. Personal observations 1:12-2:17

1. Solomon's investigation of human achievement 1:12-15

2. Solomon's evaluation of his investigation of human achievement 1:16-18

3. Solomon's investigation of pleasure 2:1-11

4. Solomon's evaluation of his investigation of pleasure 2:12-17

B. General observations 2:18-6:9

1. The outcome of labor 2:18-26

2. Labor and divine providence 3:1-4:3

3. The motivations of labor 4:4-16

4. The perishable fruits of labor 5:1-6:9

III. The limitations of wisdom 6:10-11:6

A. God's sovereign foreordination of all things 6:10-12

B. God's inscrutable plan chs. 7-8

1. Adversity and prosperity 7:1-14

2. Righteousness and wickedness 7:15-27

3. The value and limitations of wisdom ch. 8

C. Man's ignorance of the future 9:1-11:6

1. The future of the righteous on earth 9:1-10

2. The future of the wise on earth 9:11-10:11

3. The folly of criticism in view of the uncertain future 10:12-20

4. Wise behavior in view of the uncertain future 11:1-6

IV. The way of wisdom 11:7-12:14

A. Joyous and responsible living 11:7-12:7

1. Joyful living 11:7-10

2. Responsible living 12:1-7

B. The concluding summary 12:8-14

Constable: Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Ecclesiastes (Book Introduction)

ECCLESIASTES.

INTRODUCTION.

This Book is called Ecclesiastes, or the preacher, (in Hebrew, Coheleth ) because in it Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth forth the vanity of the things of this world, to withdraw the hearts and affections of men from such empty toys. (Challoner) --- Coheleth is a feminine noun, to indicate the elegance of the discourse. It is very difficult to discriminate the objections of free-thinkers from the real sentiments of the author. It is most generally supposed that Solomon wrote this after his repentance; but this is very uncertain. St. Jerome (in chap. xii. 12.) informs us that the collectors of the sacred books had some scruple about admitting this; and Luther speaks of it with great disrespect: (Coll. conviv.) but the Church has always maintained its authority. See Conc. v. Act. 4. Philast. 132. (Calmet) --- It refutes the false notions of worldlings, concerning felicity; and shews that it consists in the service of God and fruition. (Worthington)

Gill: Ecclesiastes (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES

This book has been universally received into the canon of the Scriptures, by Jews and Christians. The former, indeed, had once some controversy ^a about it; and they thought to have hid it, or put it among the apocryphal books; because, at first sight, some things seemed contradictory to each other ^b, and to incline to heresy ^c, atheism, and epicurism, and to assert the eternity of the world ^d: but they better considered of it; and when they observed those passages were capable of a good sense, and that the whole agreed with the law of God, they changed their minds ^e. And so likewise it has been rejected by some heretical persons, of the Christian name, as Theodore and Mopsuest, and others; and by deists, and some deistically inclined. But it carries in it such internal evidences of a divine original, as cannot well be denied; it delivers out and inculcates such divine instructions, concerning the duties of men to God, and one another; concerning the contempt of the world, and the carnal pleasures of it; the fear and worship of God, and a future judgment; as none but the wisdom of God could suggest. There are various things in it which seem to be referred to by Christ and his apostles; at least there is an entire agreement between them: among the many things that might be observed, compare Ecc 11:5 with Joh 3:8; and Ecc 11:9 with 2Co 5:10; and Ecc 7:20 with 1Jo 1:8. As to the author of it, there are evident marks of its being written by Solomon; yet, by some Jewish writers, it is ascribed to Isaiah ^f, which seems exceeding strange; for though he was a great prophet, and an evangelical preacher, yet no king in Jerusalem; whatever may be said for his being of the house of David, and of the royal family, as some have thought: and, besides, there is no agreement in style between this book and the writings of Isaiah. Others of them ascribe it to Hezekiah and his men ^g: Hezekiah was indeed the son of David, and David in expressly called his father; and he was a prince of great character, both with respect to religion, and to wealth and grandeur; see 2Ch 29:2; which might induce them to such a conceit; though it seems to take its rise from Hezekiah's men being the copiers of some of Solomon's proverbs, Pro 25:1; but the proof from thence must be exceeding weak; that because they were the transcribers of some of his proverbs, therefore were the writers of this book; and especially King Hezekiah; for, whatever may be said of his character, it falls greatly short of Solomon's wisdom or riches; and such things are said, with for respect to both, in this book, as cannot agree with him: and, on the other hand, it does not appear that he was addicted to wine and women, and gave himself a loose to carnal pleasures, as the writer of this book had formerly done. Grotius thinks it was written by some persons in the times of Zerubbabel, and published under the name of Solomon, as a penitent; which is quite shocking, that an inspired writing should have a false title put to it, and be imposed upon the church of God under a wrong name: besides, the name of Solomon is never mentioned in it; though this, by the way, betrays a conviction that he is intended in the title of it: nor are many persons concerned in it; it appears throughout the whole to be the work of a single person, who often speaks as such in it. That Zerubbabel should be meant by the one shepherd, Ecc 12:11, is a mere fancy; it is better interpreted, as by many, of Jesus Christ: his chief argument for this conjecture is, because there are three or four Chaldee words in it, as he supposes; which yet does not appear, and are nowhere to be found but in Daniel, Ezra, and the Chaldee interpreter: and so there are in the book of Proverbs, Pro 31:2; but it does not follow, that because these words, or others, are but once used in Scripture, that they are not originally Hebrew; since the language was more extensive and better understood in Solomon's time than now, when we have only the copy of the Old Testament in which it is preserved. In short, what is said of the descent and dignity of the writer of this book, of his wisdom, wealth, riches, and grandeur, of his virtues and of his vices, agrees with none as with Solomon; to which may be added, that there is one passage in it, the same he used in his prayer at the dedication of the temple, Ecc 7:20; compared with 1Ki 8:46. As to the time in which it was written by him, it seems to have been in his old age, as the Jewish writers observe ^h; after his sin and fall, and recovery out of it, and when he was brought to true repentance for it: it was after he had made him great works, and built houses, his own house and the house of God, which were twenty years in building; it was after he had acquired not only vast riches and treasures, which must require time, but had gotten knowledge of all things in nature; and had seen all the works that are done under the sun, and had made trial of all pleasures that were to be enjoyed; see Ecc 1:1; it was after he had been ensnared by women, which he confesses and laments, Ecc 7:26; and his description of old age seems to be made, not merely upon the theory of it, but from a feeling experience of the evils and infirmities of it, Ecc 12:1. The general scope and design of it is to expose the vanity of all worldly enjoyments; to show that a man's happiness does not lie in natural wisdom and knowledge; nor in worldly wealth; nor in civil honour, power, and authority; nor in the mere externals of religion; but in the fear of God, and the worship of him. It encourages men to a free use of the good things of life in a moderate way, with thankfulness to God; to submit with cheerfulness to adverse dispensations of Providence; to fear God and honour the king; to be dutiful to civil magistrates, and kind to the poor; to expect a future state, and an awful judgment; with many other useful things.

Gill: Ecclesiastes 6 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 6

The wise man goes on to expose the vanity of riches, as possessed by a covetous man, who makes no use of them; an evil, and a common one under the sun, Ecc 6:1; Who is described by the good things he has; which he has not a power to enjoy, but a stranger enjoys them, Ecc 6:2; by his numerous offspring and long life; yet neither is he satisfied with good in life, nor has he a burial at death; wherefore an abortive is preferred unto him, Ecc 6:3; For though many things may be said of that which are disagreeable, yet worse of him, and that has more rest than he; and besides, they both go to one place, the grave, Ecc 6:4; and the vanity of an anxious labour for riches is further argued from the use of them, at most and best, which is only for the body, and the sustenance of it, but cannot satisfy the mind or soul, Ecc 6:7; and this use a fool can make of, them, as well as a wise man; and a poor man, that is knowing, diligent, and industrious to live, as well as the rich, Ecc 6:8. Wherefore it is best to enjoy and be content with present mercies, than to let loose the wandering desires after what may never be had, Ecc 6:9; and especially it should be considered, that let a man be in what circumstances he will, he is but a man; and these circumstances are determined and appointed by God, which he cannot alter; and therefore it is both vain and sinful to contend with him, Ecc 6:10. And, after all, a man is never the better for his carking cares and wandering desires, since there are so many things that increase vanity, Ecc 6:11; and a man is so ignorant of what is good for him for the present, and of what shall be after him, Ecc 6:12.