Ecclesiastes 6:3-5

6:3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years –

even if he lives a long, long time, ¹  but cannot enjoy his prosperity –

even if he were to live forever ²  –

I would say, “A stillborn child ³  is better off than he is!” ⁴ 

6:4 Though the stillborn child ⁵  came into the world ⁶  for no reason ⁷  and departed into darkness,

though its name is shrouded in darkness, ⁸ 

6:5 though it never saw the light of day ⁹  nor knew anything, ¹⁰ 

yet it has more rest ¹¹  than that man –

Ecclesiastes 9:10

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ¹² 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ¹³ 

the place where you will eventually go. ¹⁴ 

[6:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the days of his years are many.”

[6:3]  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.

[6:3]  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.

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

[6:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (“the stillborn child”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:4]  ⁶ tn The phrase “into the world” does not appear in Hebrew, but is added in the translation for clarity.

[6:4]  ⁷ sn The birth of the stillborn was in vain – it did it no good to be born.

[6:4]  ⁸ sn The name of the stillborn is forgotten.

[6:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “it never saw the sun.”

[6:5]  ¹⁰ tn The word “anything” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:5]  ¹¹ 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.

[9:10]  ¹² tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

[9:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[9:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “where you are about to go.”