Logos Bible Study

Ecclesiastes 6:3–9

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

even if he lives a long, long time,15 but cannot enjoy his prosperity—

even if he were to live forever16—

I would say, “A stillborn child17 is better off than he is!”18

6:4Though the stillborn child19 came into the world20 for no reason21 and departed into darkness,

though its name is shrouded in darkness,22

6:5though it never saw the light of day23 nor knew anything,24

yet it has more rest25 than that man—

6:6if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity.

For both of them die!26

6:7All of man’s labor is for nothing more than27 to fill his stomach28—

yet his appetite29 is never satisfied!

6:8So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool?30

And what advantage31 does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?32

6:9It is better to be content with33 what the eyes can see34

than for one’s heart always to crave more.35

This continual longing36 is futile—like37 chasing the wind.

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Footnotes

  1. 15 Heb “the days of his years are many.”
  2. 16 Heb “he has no burial.” The phrase וְגַם־קְבוּרָה לֹא־הָיְתָה (végam-qévurah 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 (, , , , , , , , , ). 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,” , .
  3. 17 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. . The noun is related to the verb נָפַל (nafal, “to fall,” but occasionally “to be born”; see Isa 26:18); cf. נפל 5.
  4. 18 The point of 6:3–6 is that the futility of unenjoyed wealth is worse than the tragedy of being stillborn.
  5. 19 Heb “he”; the referent (“the stillborn child”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. 20 The phrase “into the world” does not appear in Hebrew, but is added in the translation for clarity.
  7. 21 The birth of the stillborn was in vain—it did it no good to be born.
  8. 22 The name of the stillborn is forgotten.
  9. 23 Heb “it never saw the sun.”
  10. 24 The word “anything” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
  11. 25 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.
  12. 26 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, ). 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.
  13. 27 The phrase “for nothing more than” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
  14. 28 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, ), as suggested by the parallelism with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “his appetite”).
  15. 29 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 ( 660 נֶפֶשׁ 5.c; 6.a).
  16. 30 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.
  17. 31 As in the preceding parallel line, this rhetorical question implies a negative answer (see the note after the word “fool” in the preceding line).
  18. 32 Heb “What to the pauper who knows to walk before the living”; or “how to get along in life.”
  19. 33 The phrase “to be content with” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
  20. 34 The expression מַרְאֵה עֵינַיִם (mar’eh ’enayim, “the seeing of the eyes”) is a metonymy of cause (i.e., seeing an object) for effect (i.e., being content with what the eyes can see); see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, .
  21. 35 Heb “the roaming of the soul.” The expression מֵהֲלָךְ־נָפֶשׁ (mehalakh-nafesh, “the roaming of the soul”) is a metonymy for unfulfilled desires. The term “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) is used as a metonymy of association for man’s desires and appetites ( 660 נֶפֶשׁ 5.c; 6.a). This also involves the personification of the roving appetite as “roving” (מֵהֲלָךְ); see 235 הָלַךְ II.3.f; 232 I.3.
  22. 36 The phrase “continual longing” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
  23. 37 The term “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,

yet their appetite is never satisfied.

What advantage have the wise over fools?

What do the poor gain

by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?

Better what the eye sees

than the roving of the appetite.

This too is meaningless,

a chasing after the wind.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

A man may father a hundred children and live many years. No matter how long he lives, if he is not satisfied by good things and does not even have a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. Though a stillborn child does not see the sun and is not conscious, it has more rest than he. And if a person lives a thousand years twice, but does not experience happiness, do not both go to the same place?

All of a person’s labor is for his stomach,

yet the appetite is never satisfied.

What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead. His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name, and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man. He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?

All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?

Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his heart is not satisfied with his prosperity and he does not receive a proper burial, I deem the stillborn better than him. For he comes into vanity and departs into darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness. He has neither seen nor known the sun, yet he has more rest than him. Even if a man lives a thousand years twice, if he does not enjoy prosperity, both suffer the same fate!

All of a man’s toil is for his mouth—

yet his appetite is never satisfied.

So do the wise really have an advantage over fools?

Can the poor really gain anything by knowing how to act in front of others?

Better to be content with what your eyes see

than for your soul to constantly crave more.

This also is vanity and chasing wind!

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.

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