Ecclesiastes 6:1

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's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ecc 6:1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it [is] common among men:

Ver. 1. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun.] This wretched life is so pestered with evils that the Preacher could hardly cast his eye beside one or other of them. A diligent observer he was of human miseries, that he might hang loose to life and the better press upon others the vanity of doting upon it. One would wonder, surely, that our life here being so grievously afflicted, should yet be so inordinately affected; and that even by those that are "in deaths often," that have borne God’s yoke from their youth, that have suffered troubles without and terrors within, and who, if they had hope in this life only, were, by their own confession, of all men the most unhappy. {1Co 15:19} And yet so it is; God is forced to smoke us out of our clayey cottages, and to make life unto us to be nothing better than a lingering death, that we may grow weary of it, and breathe after a better, {a} where are riches without rust, pleasure without pain, youth without decay, joy without sorrow, Ubi nihil sit quod nolis, et totum sit quod velis, {b} where is all that heart can wish, &c. The skilful surgeon mortifieth with straigtht binding the member that must be cut off; so doth God fit us for our cutting off, by binding us with the cords of afflictions. "He crieth not when God bindeth him," {Job 36:13} saith Elihu of hypocrites; a generation of men, than the which nothing is more stupid and insensible; {c} till at length, God making forcible entry upon them, doth violently break that cursed covenant that they have made with death and hell, dash the very breath out of their bodies with one plague upon another, turn them out of their earthly tabernacles, with a firma eiectione, and send them packing to their place in hell, from which they would not be stopped by all those crosses that, for that purpose, he cast in their way.

And it is common among men.] Proper to men, for beasts are not subject to this evil disease, and common to all sorts of men. One evil may well be common among many, when many evils are so commonly upon one. It happened to be a part of Mithridates’ misery, that he had made himself unpoisonable. And Cato so felt this miserable life, ut causa moriendi nactum se esse gauderet, {d} that he was glad of an occasion to go out of the world.

{a} Aeterna vita vera vita. - August.

{b} Bernard.

{c} Hypocritis nihil stupidius. - Pareus, Isa. xxviii.

{d} Cicero, in Tusc. quaest.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ecc 6:1-2. There is an evil which I have seen, &c. — A most wretched, miserable disposition reigning among mankind: A man to whom God hath given riches, &c. — When a man is blessed by God with all sorts of riches, as gold and silver, cattle and lands, &c. So that he wanteth nothing that he desireth — Which he does or can reasonably desire; yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof — Either because his riches are unexpectedly taken away from him by the hand of God, or rather, because, as a punishment of his ingratitude to God, and uncharitableness to men, or of his inattention to, and neglect of, spiritual and eternal things, God gives him up to a base and covetous mind; but a stranger eateth it — Not his children, not any relation, however distant; not a friend, nor even an acquaintance; but, it may be, an entire stranger enjoys all the good things which he has saved: this is vanity, and an evil disease — For surely what we possess we possess in vain, if we do not use it; and that temper of mind is certainly a most wretched distemper which prevents our using it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Ecc_6:1. Common among men] In the strict meaning of the word, the reference is to the magnitude of the evil, and not to the frequency of it. That which appears to be good is discovered, after all, to be a great evil.

Ecc_6:3. And also that he have no burial] Through the lack of filial devotion on the part of his posterity, he is denied an honourable burial—one in accordance with his social position.

Ecc_6:4. For he cometh in with vanity] Lit., Though it—i.e., the abortion (Ecc_6:3)—falls into nothingness, fails of reaching the dignity of recognised life. And his name shall be covered with darkness] Such receive no name; they are not reckoned with mankind, and sink into mere oblivion.

Ecc_6:5. Not seen the sun] The sun looks down upon so many scenes of vanity and misery that, in our melancholy mood, we consider that not to have seen it may be accounted a blessing. More rest than the other] Absolute rest from the sufferings and trials of life—they are better off.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Ecc_6:1-6

THE LIFE OF LIFE

Man has two lives: the outward life which he lives, the manner and means of life—all his surroundings in the world. He has also that life by which he lives—the power to taste life—the strong feeling of a deathless existence. No outward conditions of life, however well-favoured, can of themselves secure the true happiness of existence, which is the very life of it. This is illustrated by supposing two cases in which men fail to attain the life of life.

I. They fail to attain it who have abundant sources of Comfort, but without Enjoyment. (Ecc_6:2.) We have here the case of a man endowed with wealth, and therefore possessing the means of satisfying every desire. He has also what all noble minds earnestly covet—the honour yielded to him by his fellow-men. Yet with these advantages, he fails of the true happiness of life. He lacks the power to enjoy. This may arise—

1. From physical causes. An evil habit of body—some inveterate disease may make life for him a distressing burden, so that he has no power to taste with proper relish the comforts which his riches could provide. This may arise—

2. From mental causes. He may have some unfortunate disposition of mind, a fierce and uncertain temper, or a spirit afflicted with perpetual gloom and melancholy. Thus some defect of mind or temper may mar the enjoyment of the most plentiful provisions. It may arise also—

3. From moral causes. An uneasy conscience, the evil shadow of some great sin, or dark foreboding of the future, may rob the fairest earthly prospect of all its glory. It is not necessary to be pious in order to perceive the vanity of life, and to heave with emotion before the solemn facts of destiny. Of the life of life, we may also affirm—

II. They fail to attain it who have Age and Posterity, but without Respect. (Ecc_6:3.) The case is here supposed of a man who lives for many years, and has a numerous offspring, that much-desired blessing of the Old Covenant. Yet he has attained to an old age devoid of honour—his own posterity fail to do him reverence. He generated no kindly feelings in the breasts of others, he shed no light of love upon society, and now he feels the terrible retribution. He has the misfortune to live to be neglected and despised. He dies unregretted and unloved, the last offices performed for him scarcely deserving the name of burial—at best but a heartless service. His condition is sad in the extreme. This loss of the affection and good-will of others, giving birth to tender human tokens of reverence, is—

1. An evil which deprives life of some of its sweetest pleasures. To live in the affections and grateful memory of others is pure delight; and a long life, gathering and strengthening human affections around it, has a special loveliness. But he who by his selfishness has deprived himself of friends, and forfeited his title to honour, should he arrive at old age, has but a prolonged misery. It is—

2. An evil indicating poverty of soul. It argues a soul wanting in the higher attributes of moral and spiritual life—a soul not “filled with good.” (Ecc_6:3.) This destitution in man’s inmost spirit is the saddest of human evils. It is a poverty which has no compensations. The selfish spirit of avarice is a non-conductor interrupting the flow of all kindly influences. It is—

3. An extreme and desperate evil. That complete withering of the soul, that insulation from human love, which are the natural results of a life of selfishness, are evils of immense magnitude—of awful significance. To describe a man who has arrived at this miserable condition, language is used which appears to border upon extravagance.

(1) His condition is described as worse than that of one who has never seen the light. “An untimely birth.” (Ecc_6:3.) Such have not attained to the distinction and dignity of a name—are not reckoned with the inhabitants of the world—quickly fall away again into the oblivion of darkness. (Ecc_6:4.) Yet these have more rest (Ecc_6:5)—absolute freedom from toil and vexation—than the comfortless and unlovely miser whose whole life is a lamentation, whose closing days on earth are desolate, and who is denied honourable burial.

2. His condition would not be improved on the supposition that he were granted more favourable circumstances. (Ecc_6:6.) Suppose him to live to the years of men before the Flood, yea, that he doubles in age those venerable sons of elder time, yet even then would his condition remain unimproved. His misery would only take a deeper tinge of darkness, if that were possible. A longer life!—this would only bring about the same evils in endless and weary succession. We do not find that men get less attached to the world and self as they grow older—that true wisdom is the necessary and inseparable companion of length of days. (Job_32:9.) “Even to the verge of the churchyard mould” they hug the idol of their heart, and turn away their faces from the charities of life and the consolations of immortal hope.

3. What he has failed to attain in life cannot be recovered beyond the grave. In the land of souls to which he is hastening, all arrive equally poor. No man can there recover his earthly losses. What he has done here is written on the iron page, and laid up for eternity. Acts of unkindness, cruelty, wrong, all the evil he had inflicted upon himself and others by his unloveliness—these remain. He cannot come back to the world again and re-cast the scene of his life anew. “I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world,” is the solemn regret of the dying; and he who has failed to attain the life of life here must await beyond the grave, sad and unprofitable, the solemn judgments of God.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Ecc_6:1. There is a sad lack of an essential and practical knowledge of some of the greatest and most widely-diffused evils which afflict humanity. It needs a sage to direct attention to them.

It is one end for which God hath filled man’s life with evils, that we seeing them might not mistake our journey for our home. For travellers falling in their way upon some pleasant places, it is not seldom that the pleasure of their journey hindereth their going on, while that it doth delight them. And therefore while we are journeying to heaven, it is needful to see and observe the evils of earth Jermin].

Ecc_6:2. Riches, wealth, and honour—the Triad of sensual life.

How soon God may destroy the earthly happiness of the most prosperous man by taking away his power of enjoyment, though leaving his riches with him!

Providence teaches some men the truth, that the happiness of a man’s life “consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

When the power of enjoyment is gone, the fairest prospects of life are darkened, and the glad profusion of riches becomes but the smile of scorn.

He who has devoted himself entirely to this world will, sooner or later, find life a weary portion, a tasteless thing.

He who ceased to enjoy his own riches may have the misery of seeing some reckless heir taste them with keen relish, thus giving prophetic significance of their rapid dissipation when he himself is parted from them.

The power to enjoy the world often passes away before the world itself. He who has no divine comforts will find that the path of life becomes more comfortless, and at length opens out into a dreary desert, where his fears increase, and sad forebodings.

Ecc_6:3. A numerous offspring is often made the excuse of a grasping avarice.

A man may make himself so unlovely by his selfishness as to die in the affections of those who should love him most. This social death is the sad penalty that covetousness pays to the offended laws of human nature.

Our value in the scale of true greatness does not depend upon the length of our life, but upon the good thoughts and deeds with which we fill our measure of life. If the soul is not filled with good, the longest life is vain.

He has no honourable burial who dies unregretted, and is followed to the grave only by the pomp of mercenary woe.

Better never to have opened the eyes upon the light of the world than to ruin a fair heritage of life by selfishness and sin.

A long life without rest and peace in God, is nothing but a long martyrdom [Geier].

What the untimely birth loses of natural life without any fault of its own, that the miser wantonly robs himself of in spiritual life. Because his soul has no firm foundation in communion with the good God, it goes to ruin [Lange].

Ecc_6:4. Into this darkness therefore it is that the soul of a covetous wretch goeth, when the life into which he came is vanished away. And when his soul thus lieth in the darkness of horror, when his body lieth in the darkness of the grave, then is his name also covered, either with the darkness of silence, abhorring to mention it; or if it be mentioned, with the darkness of reproaches that are cast upon it [Jermin].

The natural vanity of life is most manifest in the sordid children of avarice. They have utterly failed to attain any true and noble life. The darkness which hides the glory of the world, and but reveals awful forms, at once describes their unlovely existence, and the rapid oblivion into which they fall.

When the soul is not filled with that good which God alone can bestow, a man’s life is but a dark spot upon the map of time.

It is just with God to deprive men of a name after they are gone, who minded never the glory of His Name [Nisbet].

Unrighteousness is the death of the soul, and darkness is the shroud with which Divine Justice wraps it.

The light of God’s favour alone can give to names an immortal fame. Where that light shines not, no earthly power, or care of human remembrance, can lift the gloom from the soul.

Ecc_6:6. Human life, though short, is long enough for the purposes of probation. Those who have failed to learn the lessons of experience, and the knowledge of the holy, in the few years appointed to man, would remain in their sin and folly were life prolonged even to the years of men before the Flood, twice told.

In this present world, there is no substantial and abiding good which a man may hope at length to discover through the long years of time.

Length of days for the righteous affords time for ripening their graces, and fitting them for the vision of God; but for the sinner, they only serve to increase the sense of false security.

However long life may be, it leads to the dark house where man must await God.

Death will open the faithless eyes of men to look upon those awful realities which they failed to see here through their selfishness and sin.

Ecc_6:5. They who have (as it were) thrust from them the gift of life, have indeed failed of the light and comfort it bestows, and remain but a dull negation. Yet these have more rest than those miserable men who would gladly invite the rush of darkness upon their souls, if haply they might find relief from the intolerable burden of themselves.

The soul that has no internal satisfaction must be ever restless and uneasy.

All the favours that wicked men enjoy are aggravations of their guilt, and so do increase their misery. Even this, that they have seen the sun, or have known anything at all, makes their case more sad than theirs who have not [Nisbet].

The consideration that in a short time we shall all meet in one place, namely, the grave, or the state of the dead, should keep men from magnifying themselves for those temporary things wherein they excel others; and when men account others for the want of those things miserable in comparison of themselves, they forget the meeting place, death, which will equal all [Nisbet].

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Ecc_6:7-10

TRUE SATISFACTION FOR THE SOUL

Man strives to remove the vanity from life—to gain some solid satisfaction here, or what appears to him to be such. But there are false and true ways of seeking this desired good.

I. It cannot be gained by the Indulgence of the Senses. Human life is full of care and trouble. Some try to escape the burden of it by indulging the sensual appetites, or by a merry behaviour seek to hide the thought of it in forgetfulness. Yet the deep and essential appetites of the soul cannot hereby be satisfied. (Ecc_6:7.)

1. Because the appetites become blunted by indulgence. As the several appetites are fed by their natural objects, they become less discriminating, and their power to taste grows less exquisite. Custom steals away the charms of novelty, and the more the sensual appetites are indulged, the earlier does the season of weariness and disgust of life set in.

2. Because man has wants which the indulgence of the senses cannot satisfy. Wants of the intellect—conscience—affections.—These will make their voices heard amidst the most exciting pleasures of the senses. Strange pangs of hunger can afflict the soul when the body is ministered unto by all that profusion of pleasures which riches can secure.

3. Because the saddest truths of life will, at some time, force themselves upon the attention. The most devoted children of pleasure, by the changes of human things, are brought face to face with the tremendous realities of existence. By their own afflictions and those of others; by the tortures of pain, and the anxieties of the last sickness, they are made to face the dread solemnities. There are great truths that command silence, and enforce a hearing from the most thoughtless. A man feels that he requires a higher good than this world can afford, and a more imperishable defence than wealth and pleasure.

II. It cannot be gained by Ordinary Thoughtfulness and Prudence in Behaviour. There are those who are not spiritual men, and yet they are convinced that a life devoted to sensual indulgence is folly—that there are nobler aims and satisfactions for man. They have enough light and moral strength to discard the common forms of human folly, and to guide their conduct in life by moderation and prudence. These go very far towards true wisdom, and even closely imitate the graces of religion. There is a wisdom and prudence of great use in guiding a man’s way through life, yet divorced from piety in the strict sense. Of such a character, we may affirm:

1. He has modest views of himself. He has no high notions of himself, but is content to be poor and lowly in his own eyes. (Ecc_6:8.) He has too much wisdom—sees too far and clearly around and above him to indulge in the swellings of pride.

2. His outward life is upright in the sight of men. He knows “how to walk before the living.” He observes his duty to others, is correct in his behaviour, and does not waste himself in the ways of vice and folly.

3. He makes the best maxims of prudence the rule of his life. He sees the folly of avarice, and is content to enjoy the present with moderation. He prefers indulging in what is before him to the passionate, uncertain, and unhealthy pursuits of ambition. (Ecc_6:9.) Yet all this does not remove vanity from life. The prudence of the children of this world may go very far towards beautifying and adorning human life, yet it does not bring a man solid satisfaction. Without some higher principle of life, and a larger view than the present affords, we may ask, what advantage has the wise man after all? (Ecc_6:8.)

III. It can only be gained by a Pious Submission to the Supreme. He who is truly wise knows that God is great, that he himself is weak and helpless, and that to submit to the guidance of the Infinite One is the highest prudence for man. (Ecc_6:10.) This includes:

1. A practical recognition of the Divine Plan. Whatever has been, and is, was named and appointed long ago. In the ways of Providence there is no rude chance, nothing irregular, nothing uncertain, on God’s side of it: with Him, all is fixed and determined. The future is already known and named. Submission to the plan of God is true wisdom, because for the truly wise and good He will mark out a safe and prosperous way through all the apparent confusion and disorder—yea, even through the rigidity of destiny itself. It must be well, in the end, with all those who are “partakers of the Divine Nature.”

2. A sense of the frailty of our nature, and the need for Divine help. “It is known that it is man.” (Ecc_6:10.) His very name, Adam, expresses the idea of frailty. Hence his absolute appendence upon Divine help. It is only when we are conscious of the aid of the Supreme and Infinite Power that we can have solid satisfaction. He who has the strength of God on his side is secured against all defeat, fears no foe, and has within him a perpetual joy.

3. A sense of the folly of persistent opposition to God. (Ecc_6:10.) It is in vain for a man to contend with his Maker—a madness to imagine that he can bend Omnipotence to his purpose. Our wisdom is to submit to the will of the Highest. In doing and suffering the Divine will, we have the charter of our freedom, the true conditions of our peace, and the best education for the land of the happy where that will is perfectly obeyed.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Ecc_6:7. The necessity for food is the spur of all human industry. Hunger is the taskmaster of humanity.

By his powers of sensation, man stands connected with the present toiling, suffering world; but by his spiritual nature, he forms part of a larger fellowship, and claims a loftier home.

However plentiful the satisfaction of the fleshly appetites, and the desire for grandeur and display, there is a longing for something which is not here. Men seek it vaguely and blindly, or with clear vision and hope. There is a hunger of the soul which allows no man to rest till it be satisfied.

Some souls are conscious of a deep spiritual want, as an infant is conscious of the pain of hunger. It feels, but knows not how the sensation may be satisfied. In other souls, where reason and conscience are active, there is at the same time with the perception of the distress, the apprehension of the remedy and the purpose of attaining it.

They are strangely deluded who think that if they had more of things worldly their desires would then be satisfied. Till the soul of man close with, and rest upon, that infinite soul-satisfying good, God reconciled to them in Christ, give it never so much of other things, the appetite will still cry, give, give; the consideration whereof should convince men that they are miserable who seek satisfaction in those things wherein it is impossible to find it [Nisbet].

Ecc_6:8. The highest human prudence, when divorced from deep religion, is only for this life. The difference between it and folly is indeed great when seen from the stand-point of time; but when looked upon from the heights of immortality, the difference vanishes.

Of what avail is that wisdom which does not make the immortal nature supremely happy!

He who has climbed to the top of the mountain has reached a higher elevation than the man who remains at its base. But for the purpose of reaching the stars, both situations are equally ineffectual. Human prudence and folly are alike impotent to secure that supreme good which can only be attained through our spiritual nature illumined by the distant light of eternity.

Man stands in certain relations to God, as well as to society; therefore, to honesty and integrity towards men, there must be added piety towards God. The Gospel religion includes morality, but also much more. It raises a man to a nobler citizenship than any earthly nationality can bestow, and therefore imposes a superior code of duty, and requires a corresponding elevation and nobility of character.

The Christian religion furnishes the best forms of what is good in this world. It refines upon the best ideas of the unaided mind of man—giving us graces for virtues. By the culture afforded by wisdom and prudence, a man may go very far towards attaining the beauty of the Christian character.

What doth it profit to go after Christ unless we come unto Him? Do thou, O Christian, there set down an end to thy course, where Christ did set down an end to His [St. Bernard].

Ecc_6:9. To cool the fever of our desires, and remain contented with our lot, is better than restless ambition—the unhealthy stimulus of wild adventure, seeking to explore some unknown fancied happiness. Yet if there be for man no higher destiny than this life, we mournfully ask, for what end is all this wisdom?

The wisdom and prudence of the children of this world cannot abide the fiercest storms. There they are shattered, and nothing is left but the poor remains—“vanity and vexation of spirit.”

Solomon means that we make use of the present, thank God for it, and not think of anything else—like the dog in Æsop, which snapped at the shadow and let the flesh fall … He forbids the soul running to and fro, as it is said in the Hebrew, that is, we are not to be always weaving our thoughts together into plans [Luther].

Ecc_6:10. In the roll of ages, no new element in the problem of human destiny arises. The old questions and difficulties return. All was named and determined long ago.

In the confessed impotence of successive philosophies, the awful lessons of history, and the vanity of all human effort, the helplessness of man is revealed.

By the name of the first man we are reminded of our earthliness, dependance upon our Maker, and our frailty.

As God’s cause is always just, it is vain to contend with Him; seeing that He has power to maintain His honour, and vanquish His foes.

1. Fate is fixed. All the past was the result of a previous destiny, and so shall be all the future … It depends upon our point of view whether the fixed succession of events shall appear as a sublime arrangement or a dire necessity. It depends on whether we recognise ourselves as foundlings in the universe, or the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ—it depends on this, whether in the mighty maze we discern the decrees of fate, or the presiding wisdom of our Heavenly Father. It depends on whether we are still skulking in the obscure corner, aliens, intruders, outlaws; or walking in liberty, with filial spirit and filial security—whether our emotion towards the Divine foreknowledge and sovereignty be, “O fate, I fear thee,” or “O Father, I thank thee.”

2. Man is feeble. And Christless humanity is a very feeble thing. His bodily frame is feeble. A punctured nerve or a particle of sand will sometimes occasion it exquisite anguish; a grape seed or an insects’ sting has been known to consign it to dissolution. And man’s intellect is feeble, or rather it is a strange mixture of strength and weakness.… Insane when contending with one that is mightier, man is irresistible when in faith and coincidence of holy affection he fights the battles of the Most High, and when by prayer and uplooking affiance, he imports into his own imbecility the might of Jehovah [Dr. J. Hamilton].

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

THIRD DISCOURSE

of true practical Wisdom.

Ecc_6:1 to Ecc_8:15.

A. It cannot consist in striving after earthly sources of happiness

Ecc_6:1-12.

1. Even those most richly blessed with earthly possessions do not attain to a true and lasting enjoyment of them

(Ecc_6:1-6.)

1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. 3If 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. 4For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. 5Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good:, do not., all go to one place?

2. He who strives most zealously after earthly happiness, never gets beyond the feeling of the vanity of all earthly things, and the hope of a totally obscure future

(Ecc_6:7-12.)

7All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before-the living? 9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 10That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. 11Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? 12For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?

[Ecc_6:3. הַֹנָּפֶּל (נֶפֶל) this peculiar word occurs Job_3:16, Psa_58:9, as well as here; in all which places it has the same meaning of premature birth, or abortion. It comes from the Hiphil sense of the verb as used in such places as Isaiah 26:29, where it is applied to the earth as giving birth. For a similar use of the Greek πίπτω, compare Homer, Iliad, xix. 110.—T.L.]

[Ecc_6:4. כִּי; See Remarks in Introduction to Metrical Version, p. 177.—T.L.]

[Ecc_6:6. אִלִּוּ said to be a particle Sequioris Hebraismi (See Gesenius) but it is only a matter of pronunciation. It is only what אִם לוּ would be in sound if written in full—the מ in such cases, where the words are pronounced rapidly together, being elided in sound. This belongs to the Hebrew, as well as the Syriac and Arabic, and its appearance or non-appearance in writing is only a peculiarity of orthography which is not determinative of date, any more than the abbreviations of אֲשֶׁר which are found in the ancient as well as in the later Hebrew writings. It would easily come from a copyist following the sound.—T.L.]

[Ecc_6:10. אָדָם, the point intended here requires that this should be rendered as the proper name. The reference is to the naming, Gen_2:7.—T.L.]

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

This section contains firstly the negative of the illustration relative to the nature of true wisdom, which forms the contents of the third discourse, or a censure of the vain and perverse efforts of those who seek that wisdom in the way of external and earthly happiness. In two clearly marked sections or strophes of equal length, the author first shows that all worldly blessings are of no avail to him who is not able to enjoy them (Ecc_6:1-6) and then that this very incapability of enjoyment depends partly on the perception of the vanity of earthly things, and partly on the necessity, affecting all men, of depending on a totally dark and uncertain future, while dissatisfied with the present (Ecc_6:7-12). The latter of these two sections (especially in its second half, Ecc_6:10-12) reminds us of previous reflections, as Ecc_1:2-11; Ecc_3:1-9; and partially also of Ecc_5:12-16. But that the last named passage reappears in its principal thoughts in the present place, is an unjustified assertion of some commentators (also of Vaihinger, p. 34). For, as Hitzig properly observes, there the rich man loses his blessings without having enjoyed them; here, on the contrary, he retains them.— Ewald, Elster, Hahn, and some others, begin a new leading section with Ecc_6:10 of this chapter (Ewald, indeed, a new discourse, which he extends from Ecc_6:10; Ecc_8:16). But since Ecc_6:10-12 clearly belong to the description of the vanity of earthly happiness commenced in Ecc_6:1, whilst the admonition to walk in. the ways of true wisdom does not commence until Ecc_7:1, etc., our division, which corresponds with the division of the chapters, is to be preferred.

2. First strophe. Ecc_6:1-6. The unhappiness of not being able to enjoy present earthly blessings. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun. In words similar to Ecc_10:5; and in like manner to chap. 5. 13.—And is common among men. (Zöckler’s translation, and it bears heavily on man). Literally: “And is a great thing on man.” רַבָּה cannot here have been intended to show the frequency of the evil (Luther, “and is common among men;” Vulg. “malum frequens”), but only its extent and weight, as is shown by the expression רָעָה רַבָּה in the parallel passages Ecc_2:21; and

Ecc_8:6

Ecc_6:2. A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor. The same tuiad of sensual goods: 2Ch_1:11; comp. similar combinations in Pro_3:16; Pro_8:18; Pro_22:4. Hengstenberg is arbitrary in (he assertion, that by the rich man is meant the Persian, and by the “stranger,” named immediately afterwards, the successor of the Persian in the dominion of the world. This discourse is much too general in its character to permit us to seek in it such special historical and political allusions. For the doubtful propriety of affirming such political allusions in this book, see Introduction, § 4, Obs. 3.—So that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he„desireth. (Zöckler, “of any thing”). This is clearly the meaning of וְאֵינֶנּוּ חָסֵר לְנַפְשׁוֹ מִכֹּל as is shown partly by the suffix in אֵינֶנּוּ, and partly also by the construction of חָסֵר with מִן occurring in Ecc_4:8. Therefore not: “he wanteth for his soul nothing of all” ( Vulg., Drusius, Bauer, etc.), but “of any thing.” The Septuagint is more correct, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑστερῶν τῇ ψυχῆ αυτοῦ, also Luther and nearly all the modern commentators.—Yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof. This incapacity of enjoyment can proceed from the sickness of the wealthy possessor, or from the’ burden of heavy cares which rob him of his sleep (comp. Ecc_5:12), or from a soul made gloomy by melancholy or dejection (comp. Ecc_5:17). The author can only mean such an inability to enjoy blessings as is connected with a steady continuance of their possession, as more clearly appears in Ecc_6:3; Ecc_6:6; consequently not an inability caused by the deprivation of them, by some other misfortune, or by early death, as Ewald and Vaihinger suppose. For הִשְׁלִיט, to empower, to enable, i.e., “to allow or grant,” comp. Ecc_5:19. God’ must grant us the possession of goods, and also the power to enjoy them—the same God who in an ethical sphere provides all in all, the Posse, the Velle, and the Perficere.—But a stranger eateth it—i.e., not some robber of his goods, (Ewald, Vaihinger) or the successor of the Persian in the rule of the world (Hengstenberg), but the reckless heir1 of the rich man, who, during the lifetime of the latter, and when he is tortured by disease, sorrow, or foolish avarice, already begins to riot and revel with his goods, and after his death will exhaust them in feasting and merry-making. (Comp. Ecc_2:18).—This is vanity, and it is an evil disease. “Evil disease” is an expression originating perhaps in Deu_28:59, which here signifies an evil resembling a very malignant disease. The word חֳלִי however, has no sort of etymological connection with cholera (χολέρα from χολή, gall). Ecc_6:3. If a man beget a hundred children. For the high appreciation, in the old covenant, of the blessing of many children, comp. Gen_24:60; Psa_127:3-5; Job_27:14; and for the value attached to long life, Exo_10:12; Deu_11:9; Deu_11:21; Psa_49:9.—And live many years, so that the days of his years be many. Herein is meant the sum of all the days of which all his years consist (Psa_90:10.) To the first clause, “and live many years,” is added the latter equivalent one, as explanatory and emphatic, without producing an absolute tautology.—And also that he have no burial, that is, an honorable burial, that testifies of the real love of his posterity, and therefore truly deserves the name of “burial.” The opposite of such an honorable burial is that found in Isa_53:9.—“He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death;” or in Jer_22:19.—“He shall be buried with the burial of an ass;” or in the neglect of burial and the lying on the face of the earth like dung (Jer_8:2; Jer_9:21; Jer_25:33; Isa_14:19-20; Psa_79:3). The cause of such dishonorable קְבוּרה, which is not truly קְבוּרָה we are clearly to find in the absence of filial piety and esteem on the part of the posterity of the avaricious rich man, and not in the sordid meanness of the latter himself, who “ex turpi tenacitate non audeat aliquid honestie sepullurse destinare” (Schmidt, Ramb., and Vaihinger). Hengstenberg unnecessarily assumes for קְבוּרָח the signification of “grave, tomb,” a meaning elsewhere quite common. As in this passage, so also does the context in Jer_22:19 rather demand the sense of exeqüise, funus. Hitzig’s position that the words: “and also that he have no burial‚” is simply a note originally written on the margin of verse 5, is pure caprice.—I say that an untimely birth is better than he;—because such a birth has enjoyed no pleasure in this life, but has also experienced no suffering; comp. Ecc_4:2 f., and especially Job_3:16. Verses 4 and 5 continue the comparison of the untimely birth.—For2 he cometh in with vanity, i.e., falls into nothingness from his mother’s womb. And his name shall be covered with darkness, i.e., he receives no name, “but is given over to absolute oblivion.” (Elster). Moreover he hath not seen the sun;—this sun which shines brightly and lovingly, but also shines on a great deal of vanity and vexation, of woe and misery; wherefore it may be considered a good fortune not to have seen it. This hath more rest than the other. “Rest,” i.e., freedom from the annoyances, toils, and troubles of this life. We are certainly not to think with Hitzig of that passive, dreamy rest so desired by the Orientals.3 For the use of the comparative מִן here, comp. Psa_52:3; Hab_2:16. Ecc_6:6. Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told; therefore twice as long as the life of the oldest patriarchs from Adam to Noah. Hieronymus is correct in saying: “et non tit Adam prope mille, sed duobus millibus vixerit annis,” “Not lived, as Adam, near a thousand, but two thousand years,”—Yet hath he seen no good. Comp. Ecc_2:24; Ecc_3:12, etc. Do not all go to one place? namely, to Scheol, in which all arrive equally poor, and where we cannot regain what we have failed to enjoy on earth; comp. Ecc_9:10; Ecc_11:8. As an extension to the principal clause, this question might be introduced with the expression: “I ask then.”

3. Second strophe. Ecc_6:7—12. The cause of this inability to enjoy earthly blessings, consists in the vanity of the present and the uncertainty of the future conditions of the happiness of men. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.—(Zöckler, “the soul.”) That is, all human life is a grasping after enjoyment, but after an enjoyment vain in itself, and affording no true satisfaction. “Mouth and soul” stand in contrast to each other as representatives of the purely sensual and therefore transitory enjoyment (comp. Job_12:1; Pro_16:26) as compared with the deeper, more spiritual, and, therefore, more lasting kind of joy. The clear sense of this verse, in essential harmony with Ecc_1:8, is, that the necessity of the inner man for a more substantial and lasting enjoyment is not satisfied by pleasures of that kind, namely, by eating and drinking (Ecc_2:21; Ecc_3:13; Ecc_5:18; Ecc_8:15); and therefore נֶפֶשׁ here cannot be translated by “desire, sensual desire;” and this same remark applies to Ecc_6:2, or Ecc_6:9, notwithstanding the opposite view of Hitzig, Vaihinger, Elster, etc. Luther’s translation is also unfitting; he gives “heart,” but his entire conception of the verse is grammatically inaccurate: “Labor is appointed to every man according to his strength, but the heart cannot abide by it.” Ecc_6:8. For what hath the wise more than the fool? That is, one may strive after the more earnest and real, instead of the mere sensual pleasure, and thus, by a desire for food for his soul, show himself a wise man in contrast with the fool who seeks only to satisfy his mouth: but the former has no real advantage over the latter, since neither attains to the desired “satisfaction of the soul.” This sentence clearly holds a confirming relation to the preceding, and not an opposing one, as Elster holds; he translates כִּי by “nevertheless,” as does Hitzig, who regards this verse as opposing the contents of the verse preceding. Hengstenberg affirms an extravagant comparison between the wise man and the fool, when he supposes that both are here equally accused of avarice. On the contrary, a distinction is here clearly drawn between the desire of the fool, aiming at possession and enjoyment, and the more thoughtful, more self possessed, more honorable and worthy conduct of the wise man.4 The latter is indicated in the second clause by the words: The poor that knoweth to walk before the living. Here the word poor (עָנִי humble) shows the moral condition and demeanor of the wise man, by virtue of which, with a more just conception of himself as an humble “quiet one in the land,” he leads a modest and retired life (comp. Psa_10:2; Psa_34:6; Psa_37:2; Zec_9:9, etc.); but “knowing to walk before the living,” is understanding the correct rule of life, and the true and godly intercourse with one’s fellow—men, and is, therefore a circumlocution to express the idea of “wise” in the solemn Old Testament sense. Ewald, following the masoretic accentuation (which is here not authoritative), separates יוֹדֵע (knowing) from the following infinitive clause, and regards this as the subject: “What profits it to the patient man, to the understanding man to walk before the living (i.e., to live)?” But the adjective conception of יוֹדֵע “knowing, intelligent,” is neither sustained by Pro_27:27, nor Ecc_9:11, and the parallel passages Pro_4:13; Pro_4:17, and many others, support the direct connection with the following word לַהֲלֹךּ The explanations of Luther are ungrammatical. “Why does the poor man dare to be among the living?” and the Vulg. “Et quid pauper, nisi ut pergat iliac, ubi est vita?” Ecc_6:9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire, (Zöckler, “of the soul”). That is, because the wise man with his strivings after higher aims, has nothing better than the pleasure-seeking fool, therefore a contented enjoyment of the present is the most desirable, more to be desired than a restless striving without satisfaction, or than the wearying one’s self with manifold designs with no hope of their success. The “sight of the eyes” is here, as in Ecc_6:11; Ecc_6:7, the pleasant enjoyment of that which is before the eyes, or of the good and the beautiful which are present. (See Luther on this passage, in the Homiletical Hints). The wandering of the soul (not of the desire, see Ecc_6:7), is the uneasy scheming of the man dissatisfied with his modest lot, the passionate ζεσθαι (Luk_12:29) or the φρόνειν τὰ ὑψηλά (Rom_12:16), consequently the same as the expression: “His soul shall not be filled” in Ecc_6:3; Ecc_6:7, only marking more clearly than this the self-caused guilt of the want of spiritual contentment. This sentence has many parallels among the classic authors; e.g., Horace, 4 Ep. I. 18, 96 ss:

Inter cuncta leges, et percontabere doctos,

Qua ratione queas traducere leniter ævum,

Ne te semper inops agitet vexetque cupido,

Ne pauor et rerum mediocriter ulilium spes.

Comp. Marcus Aurelius 3:16; 4:26; Juvenal, Sat. 14:178; Lucian, Necromant. I, 194 etc.—This is also vanity and vexation o spirit; namely this maxim: “Better is the sight of the eyes,” etc., and a life and conduct in accordance with it. A partial reference of גַּם־זֶה to the “wandering of the soul” (Luther and Hengstenberg) corresponds quite as little to the sense as the extension of the thought to everything from Ecc_6:7 onward [Vaihinger and Elster]. Comp. the case precisely similar t this in Ecc_2:26. Ecc_6:10. That which hath been is named already. This remark reminding us of Ecc_1:9 f., proves the author’s way for the description of the total uncertainty and obscurity of the future of man, in so far a it points to his banishment, into the fixed circle of all creature life and action. “That which hath been is named already,” i.e., it has already been, in the past, something in its nature manifest and well-known. The exclusive reference of the clause to man, by means of which Gen_5:2; Psa_139:16, etc., would become parallels of this passage, is forbidden by the neuter מָה. The discourse does not make special reference to man until we reach the following clause. And it is known that it is man, [Zöckler, “the man”]. Here Ewald and Elster are correct; it is not “that he is a man” (Knobel, Vaihinger, Hengstenberg) or, “what the man is” (Rosenmueller), or, “who the man is” (Hahn), or finally, “that if one is a man he cannot contend,” etc., (Hitzig),—these are all conceptions that militate against the connection, and do not correspond to the simple expression אֲשֶׁר־הוּא אָדָם.[5] Neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. That is with God, namely, with Him who is הַּקִּיף or שַׁדַּי [Job_5:17; Rth_1:20-21, etc.], who is superior to man just because He is mightier than man [ממנו הַתַּקִּיף] or because He has ordained the whole circle of human existence with absolute creative power, so that man may neither contend with Him nor break through the limit to which he is assigned. For the word דין, “to contend with anyone,” compare נָדוֹן 2Sa_19:10, which there, as elsewhere, has this sense. For the sentence compare also the question (originating perhaps in this very passage): μὴ ἰσχυρότεροι αυτοῦ ἐσμέν? 1Co_10:22

Ecc_6:11. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity. That is, human life abounds in possessions, chances, vicissitudes of fortune, trials and dangers which strengthen in us the feeling of the vanity and weakness of this earthly existence, and show us that we are absolutely dependent on a higher power against which we cannot contend. The context decides against the ordinary rendering: “for there are many words which,” etc., [Sept., Vulg.,. and also Ewald, Hitzig, Elster and Hahn], for the reference to useless talk, etc., is foreign to it.[6]—What is man the better? Namely, that he possesses, experiences, or enjoys these many things that simply increase vanity.

Ecc_6:12. For who knoweth what is good for man in this life?—Namely, what of earthly things, whether happiness or unhappiness, wealth or poverty, the fulfilment of his desires or their disappointment. The concealed nature of man’s own future is expressed by this question.—All the days of his vain life. Literally: “the number of the days,” etc. מִסְפָר (Com. Ecc_5:18) is the accusative of measure or duration.—Which he spendeth as a shadow. Literal: “and he passeth them,” etc. Because ימי (days of) is separated from יַעֲשֵׂם כַּצֵּל by a compound genitive, the copula is placed before this clause which is to be considered as relative (Hitzig). With עָשָׂה יְמֵי חַיִּים compare χρόνον ποιεῖν Act_15:33, dies facere, Cicero ad Attic. v. 20.—For who can tell a man?, אֲשֶׁר‚ here, is not equivalent to “so that,” but is substantially synonymous with כִּי “for,” (comp. Deu_3:24; Dan_1:10), expressing an affirmative and intensified sense. Comp. Psa_10:6; Job_5:5; Job_9:15; Job_19:27. In the present clause the effort is certainly to intensify the truth that man is not permitted to look into the future of his earthly existence.—What shall be after him under the sun. “After him,” i.e., after his present condition, not after his death; comp. Ecc_3:22; Ecc_8:14; and see the exegetical illustrations to the former passage.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

(With Homiletical Hints.)

The theme of this section is too narrowly drawn, if, with Starke, we find only therein depicted “the extremely unhappy nature of the miser,” or, with Hengstenberg, “the vanity of wealth,” [and indeed, as Hengstenberg supposes, illustrated by the example of the rich Persians[7] and the poor Israelites]. That which in the present chapter is discountenanced, and presented as incompatible with true wisdom, is not merely the striving after money and possessions, but also the desire for honor, long life, many children (Ecc_6:2-3; Ecc_6:6), and, in short, the struggle for earthly happiness in general. And firstly, in Ecc_6:1-6, wealth without a cheerful and contented feeling in the heart, then in Ecc_6:7-9 sensual enjoyment without satisfaction of soul, and finally in Ecc_6:10-12, a happy present with an obscure and uncertain future, are named as those things which must bring men to the consciousness of the vanity of all earthly goods and pleasures, and forbid them to strive after them. All the conditions and circumstances named, belong to those “many things that increase vanity,” as found in Ecc_6:11, and which, according to Ecc_6:3-6, permit the longest life, and the one most richly blessed with posterity, to seem scarcely any better than the lot of an untimely birth that has not even seen the light of this world. It is a bitter and cutting thought, which, like the similar one in Ecc_4:2, f., is only softened and, as it were, excused by the admonition to a contented, resigned and grateful enjoyment and use of life, which clearly forms its background [distinctly visible in Ecc_6:9], and again practically takes away the one-sided character of the apparent accusation of the Creator and Ruler of the world. Only the insatiable, ever-dissatisfied chasing after earthly means of happiness is thereby forbidden, as in opposition to the divinely-appointed task of human life. A temperate and modest striving after a cheerful and useful course of life, (which verse 8 expressly praises as the characteristic of the wise man) is emphatically recommended, not only in the preceding Ecc_5:18-20, but in those immediately following [especially in Ecc_7:11 ff.] It is the cheerful and noble form of σωφροσύνη, that cardinal virtue, not merely of the ancient classical but also of biblical ethics, which forms the framework of this mainly gloomy and admonishing picture, and presents a corrective to contents so apparently dubious, and easily misunderstood.

The principal thought of this chapter might be well represented by the following quotations: “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth;” or, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth,” etc.; or, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abidelh forever.” (Col_3:2; Mat_6:19; 1Jn_2:17).

Homiletical hints on separate passages

Ecc_6:1-2. Brenz: The scheming and striving of our old Adam is of such a nature, that it measures the happiness of this life solely according to the abundance of treasures and riches. Let this old Adam go, for it is of no use! Dost thou think that nothing would be wanting to a happy life if thou only hadst an abundance of riches and honors ? The matter is very different, as daily experience teaches.—Weimar Bible: The lamentations of the miser are not removed by excess of riches, by the number of children, or by long life; they are rather increased by these things (1Ti_6:10).—Lange: The desire for temporal things clings to us all, and when we cease to watch and pray, we can soon be put to sleep, and charmed to our ruin, by such earthly love.

Ecc_6:3-6. Geier: A long life without rest and peace in God, is nothing but a long martyrdom.—Starke: To have many children is a special blessing of God (Psa_127:3; Psa_128:3, f.); but apart from the enjoyment of divine favor, this also is vanity.—Lange: What the untimely birth loses of natural life without any fault of its own, that the miser wantonly robs himself of in spiritual life. … Because his soul has no firm foundation in communion with the good God, it goes to ruin, (Gal_6:8).

Ecc_6:7-8. Tubingen Bible: Above all things let us strive that our immortal spirit be filled with heavenly treasures, which alone can truly satisfy it.—Lange: He who cares not to appease and satisfy his soul, finds his proper place among fools, Luk_12:19 f.—Hengstenberg: That the soul of man is never satisfied, notwithstanding his narrow capacity for enjoyment, is very strange, and a mighty proof of the degree to which our race, since Gen_1:3, has yielded to sin and folly, producing “many foolish and hurtful lusts,” (1Ti_6:9).

Ecc_6:9. Luther: It is better that we use what is before our eyes, than that the soul should thus wander to and fro. Solomon means that we use the present and thank God for it, and not think of other things, like the dog in the fable that seizes the shadow and drops the meat. And he therefore says: what God has placed before thine eyes (the present) that use contentedly, and follow not thy soul which does not become filled.—Therefore let every Christian and believer rest with what he has, and be satisfied with what God has given him in the present! But the ungodly are not thus; all that they see is a torture to them; for they use not the present, their soul is never filled, and it wanders hither and thither. He who has immense sums of money has not enough; he does not use it but desires more; if he has one wife he is not satisfied but wants another; if he has a whole realm, he is not contented; as Alexander the Great could not be satisfied with one world.—Cramer: Be contented with what thou hast; this is better than in greed to be ever desiring other things.—Berleb. Bible: This is the wandering of the soul, that rung about among creatures, and, like Esau, on the field of this world, chases after a palatable food, which wisdom finds only at home, and in the repose of contentment.—Hengstenberg: is better to rejoice in that which is before our eyes, however humble it may be, since man really needs so little, than to yield to the caprices of one’s lusts, and to torture one’s self with plans and hopes that so easily deceive us, or, if they are fulfilled, afford so little happiness.

Ecc_6:10-11. Cramer: That man should leave a pleasant name and memory behind is not unchristian; but the highest good does not consist therein. For as time discovereth all things, so it covereth all things up. (Psa_31:13; Exo_1:8).—Hansen: All human things are subjected to God. He often deposes the highest from the throne of their glory where they least expect it, Dan_4:27-30.—Hengstenberg: If man is in a state of unconditional dependence on God, he should not permit to himself many vagaries, and should not torture himself with schemes and stratagems; because he cannot protect what he has acquired, and is not for a moment certain that he may not hear the cry: “thou fool, this night thy soul will be demanded of thee;” therefore it is foolish to envy the heathen because of their wealth, which can so soon wither away, like the flower of the field, Jam_1:10-11.—The rich man has, in truth, no more than the poor one; what the former seems to have over the latter, proves, on closer inspection, to be but show and vanity. It disappears as soon as the judgments of God pass over the world.

Ecc_6:12. Luther: Men’s hearts strive after all sorts of things: one seeks power, another wealth, and they know not that they will acquire them; thus they use not their present blessings, and their hearts ever aspire to that which they have not yet, and see not yet.—Why do we thus annoy and torture ourselves with our thoughts, when future things are not for a moment in our power? Therefore we should be contented with the present that God gives us now, and should commit all to God, who alone knows and rules both the present and the future.—Rambach: From all which it appears, that there is nothing better than to proscribe base avarice, be content with the present, and enjoy it with a pious cheerfulness.—Zeyss: Although a Christian may not know how it may be with the things of this world after his death, yet he can be assured by faith that he, after death, will be with Christ in heaven.—Hengstenberg: One would only be justified in esteeming wealth in case he knew the future, and had it in his power. The merest chance can suddenly rob one of all that has been gathered with pain and toil. A great catastrophe may come and sweep everything away as a flood. The practical result therefore is that one should strive after the true riches. As P. Gerard says; “Earthly treasures dissolve and disappear, but the treasures of the soul never vanish.”

Footnotes:

[1][The phrase אִישׁ נָכְרִי, “a stranger man,” cannot possibly mean here an heir, or one of kin, either near or remote. Besides the context, and especially the mention of his having no funeral, shows an utter dispossession, in whatever way it may be supposed to have taken place. He, and his hundred sons, are all reduced to poverty, and there is none to do him the honor of such a funeral as his estate might have demanded. This is the soreness of it.—T. L.]

[2][It should be rendered “though it cometh in with vanity,” etc. See the remarks on כּי, as denoting a reason notwithstanding, as well as a reason for, Introd. to Metrical Version p. 177. The rendering for completely changes the sense, and makes the reader think of the rich man, until the context forces to the other conception. The same effect is produced in our E. V. by the rendering he instead of it, which is more properly applicable to the abortion, conceived of as impersonal. See Met. Ver.—T. L.]

[3][The word נַחַת does not primarily mean rest, repose, in either sense, but simply a lying down. It refers to the state or condition taken as a whole. So מְנוּחָה, from the same root, means a place of rest, rather than rest itself, as in Psa_23:2, מְי מְנוּחוֹת means not “the still waters,” but the streams by which the sheep lie down to rest. It does not refer to the quality of rest, much less to its quantity as our E. V. would make it: “More rest than the other;” but is simply an affirming that the state or condition, on the whole, of the vainly born is better, more desirable, than that of the man who vainly lived. The one is better off than the other.—T. L.]

[4][Stuart’s view here is worthy of consideration. “It is the כִּי apodictic,” he says, “i. e., such as is employed in sentences of this nature: If—so and so; then (כִי) this or that consequence.” He takes it as an objector’s language, or the author personifying an objector, thus: “The appetite is not satisfied;—then (asks the inquirer) how do the wise have any advantage, etc.?” Stuart says “the question is not answered here;” “but it may be regarded as having a suggested, if not a direct response in the verse following: better the sight of the eyes, that is, the contented enjoyment of the wise, than the fool’s ever roving desire. This is the view adopted and (expressed in the Metrical Version.—T. L.]

[5][Ecc_6:10. “That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man.” This rendering of our English Version seems to have little or no meaning, and points to no connection with the following verse. Stuart’s is little better. Zöckler sheds no light upon it. He has no right to regard so distinct and emphatic a phrase as נקרא שמו, as meaning simply a known existence in the past. The other interpretations, of Ewald, Elster, Knobel, Vaihinger, Hengstenberg, Rösenmueller, Hahn, fail to satisfy. Their very discrepancies as to the rendering of so simple a phrase as אשר הוא אדם, show that they have missed some fundamental idea which would at once take away from it all uncertainty. Hitzig’s is the most unmeaning of them all. The older commentators, such as Munsterus, Mercerus, Tirinus, Pineda, Ar. Montanus, Geier, and even Grotius (see Pole’s Synopsis) saw in it an allusion to the narrative, Gen_2:19, of Adam’s giving names to things (nomen inditum conveniens rei cujusque naturæ) and to the name of Adam itself, as derived from Gen_2:7 and Ecc_6:2. They fail however to bring it clearly out. Among the moderns, Wordsworth distinctly favors this view. See also the remarks of the spiritually minded Matthew Henry. The key of the passage would seem to be given in the words כבר נקרא שמו (comp. Gen_2:19 הוא שמו), “its name was named of old.” There is no need of departing here from the most close and literal rendering, or for seeking any foreign idea in the word naming, as though it were a mere expression for existence (Stuart and Zöckler) or for being well-known. The reference is to the supposed fact, or idea, that names denote (as the best philology shows they were originally intended to denote) the nature of the thing named,—an idea which certainly seems to be implied in the account Gen_2:19. Keeping this in view, we get a clear meaning from the most literal rendering: מה שהיה “what a thing is” (מה here used indefinitely like the Greek τι, Latin quid, aliquid, see Job_13:13; Pro_9:13; 2Sa_18:27; Ecc_1:9; Ecc_3:15; Ecc_3:22; Ecc_7:24; Ecc_8:7; Ecc_10:14; or, with אֲשֶׁר or שֶׁ, illud quod), “what each thing is,” or, “each thing, what it is, its name was named of old,”—that is, it was named according to what it is (comp. Aristotle’s peculiar expression for the idea, or individuality, of a thing, its τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι, its being what it is, or its being something). And then what follows is stated by way of example; the conjunction ו being used comparatively as it often is: וְנוֹדָע, “and so, known what he is (אשר הוא), is man,” or rather “ Adam” (keeping the proper name in translation as the only way of giving force to the play upon the name. Thus known for what he is (by his name), or thus made known (denoted what he is) is Adam (man from earth). Then there is seen immediately the connection with the next verse, expressing his weakness as well as earthliness. The whole, then, may be thus paraphrased: ‘Names of old were given to things, to each thing, according to their nature; so man was denoted, made known, or simply, known, from what he is, his earthliness and frailty.’ The objection of Zöckler in respect to the gender of מה has no weight. It is taken indefinitely, and so what (that which) was used instead of who. Compare Psa_8:5 מָה אֱנוֹשׁ, Psa_144:3 מָה אָדָם, “what is man?” The Metrical Version follows a close literality at the expense of smoothness,—the words in brackets not at all adding to the sense, but necessary to give the English reader the play upon the name. It is as though there had been used the word mortal, which is taken in English for a name or epithet of man, or the Greek βροτὸς, which is so much used in Homer for the same purpose. There is probably some allusion to the peculiar language of this passage in the Midrash Rabba (on Numbers 19) where we have the following account: “When the Holy One had created Adam, He brought before him the animals, and said of each, see this (מה זה what is this), what is its name (מה שמו)? Adam said, this is שׁוֹר, shor, (ox)—this is חַמוֹר, chamor, (ass)—this is סוּם sus (horse), and so on. And thou—what is thy name? He answered, I should be called אָדָם, (Adam) because I was taken from adamah. And I,—what is my name? Thou shouldst be called אֲדנָֹי, Adonai, for Thou art Adon (אדון לכל בריותיך), the Lord of all Thy creatures.” There can be good reasons given for Koheleth's philology here, but its correctness or incorrectness is of no account in reference to the allusion, or the idea of humanity which it conveys. See Genesis, p. 203, marginal note.—T.L.]

[6][On the contrary the contrast seems clearly to point to the rendering words, although Zöckler agrees here with our English Version, and with that of Luther. It is confirmed by What follows: “who knows”—“who can tell.” It indicates the disputations which had commenced in the speculative or philosophical world, and which Solomon had doubtless heard of, although perhaps not familiar with them. His intercourse with the Egyptians, Phœnicians, Sabæans, and Arabians (perhaps with some of the more eastern people to whom his ships had gone), was sufficient for this purpose. The speculative mind began very early to inquire concerning the design and end of human life, de finibus bonorum et malorum. Philosophy was then rising in Greece; though, at this early time, its schools bad not yet assumed shape. “Many were saying (רַבּים אֹמְרִים, Psa_4:7) who will show us the good.” We have seen how the Psalmist answers the questions there (Marg. note p. 95) by directing lo the real good, אוֹר פָּנֶיךָ, the true εὐδαιμονία, the favor of God, or blessedness in distinction from mere happiness,—“the light of thy countenance.” Koheleth here regards as vanity all merely human disquisitions of this kind. They only “increase vanity” (see 1Co_7:1, ἡ γνῶσις φυσιοῖ. “knowledge puffeth up,” bloweth up), or as it may be read, taking הֶבֶל adverbially, they multiply in vain” What is man the better for all this talk? Who knows what is good for him? Who can tell him what shall be after him? By way of contrast compare Psa_119:129-130 : “Thy testimonies are wonderful; the entrance of THY words giveth light; they give understanding to the simple.”—T. L.]

[7][A false historical hypothesis, especially if it be in the face of the claim made by the writing itself, produces great mischief in continually warping exegesis. Nothing shows this more than Hengstenberg’s continually turning the most general remarks into something about the Persians and the Persian times.—T. L ]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 6 Disheartening Contradictions

1. Riches--Inability to enjoy them (Ecc 6:1-2)

2. Having All--Yet no fill of the soul (Ecc 6:3-9)

3. The sad ending wail (Ecc 6:10-12)

Ecc 6:1-2. The first evil the wise searcher sees as a discouraging contradiction is, that God giveth a man riches, wealth, and honor so that he does not lack in anything whatever. But God does not give him the power to enjoy it, a stranger instead eats thereof. This makes impossible what he stated in the closing verses of the preceding chapter. The cherished desires of man have found no fulfilment. And if he has seen this evil, so do we still see it also. Where then is “the good and comely” of chapter 5:18? This is vanity and it is an evil disease, he confesseth.

Ecc 6:3-9. But here is more of life’s bitterness. If one should beget a hundred children and live to a very ripe old age, so old he becomes that it seems as if there is to be no burial for him at all, yet his soul is not filled with good--what then? “I say that an untimely birth is better than he, for it cometh in vanity and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness; moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other: yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoy no good; do not all go to one place?” It is a sad, sorrowful picture, yet every word of it is true as to man’s existence. With all his long life and all it brings, riches and power, his soul has not the fill it needs, that which satisfies. His life ends at last and then there is the one place--the region of the unknown, the Sheol, where they all go. And about that one place there is no light; it is felt existence after death but of what nature? All is darkness! Better, far better off, is the untimely birth.

In Ecc 6:7 he comes back again to the labor that man does. It is for the mouth, yet it does not satisfy--the appetite is not filled. The hunger returns, and man must labor to satisfy it and yet it is never filled. The fool and the wise make the same experience. The wise has no advantage over the fool; and the poor man who has something to eat in sight is far better off than the rich, whose desires wander, seeking that which gratifies. Vanity and vexation of spirit! We may all sum it up in a brief sentence: Man under the sun, whatever he does, all his labors, all his riches, all his seeking for good, all his achievements cannot satisfy him, it cannot give that which the soul of man craves and needs. Nor can it ever be discovered by the searcher, the wise man, the philosopher, the scientist. What man needs is not anything “under the sun” but that which is “from above the sun.”

Ecc 6:10-12. Who knoweth what is good for man in this life that is--what is it that can satisfy the heart and soul of man? He spendeth all the days of his vain life as a shadow. For who can tell a man who shall be after him under the sun? It is the wail of darkness and despair. Who knoweth? Not the natural man. But the question which man cannot answer, God has graciously, blessedly and eternally answered in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. With Peter we too cry out, “Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” Joh 6:68.

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:1-2 This “unfortunate man” parable resembles 4:7-8 and 5:13-17. It is a sickening tragedy when someone succeeds but then cannot enjoy these things. Such a person has missed out on the only available benefit of success.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

CHAPTER VI

The vanity of riches without use, 1, 2.

Of children and of old age without riches and enjoyment, 3-7.

Man does not know what is good for himself, 8-12.

NOTES ON CHAP. VI

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

VI.

(1) Common among.—Rather, heavy upon. In this section it is remarked how even when riches remain with a man to the end of his life they may fail to bring him any real happiness.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun] The picture is substantially the same as that of ch. Ecc_4:7-8. The repetition is characteristic, consciously or unconsciously, of the pessimism from which the writer has not yet emancipated himself. He broods over the same thought, chews, as it were, the “cud of bitter fancies” only, “semper eandem canens cantilenam.” Here the picture is that of a man who has all outward goods in abundance, but he just lacks that capacity for enjoyment which is (as in ch. Ecc_5:20) the “gift of God,” and he dies childless and a stranger becomes the heir. We are reminded of the aged patriarch’s exclamation, “I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus” (Gen_15:2).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Kg1 10:27.

(u) "et multum ipsum super hominem", Montanus; "et magaum est illud super hominem istum", Rambachius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Life an Enigma

1-6. Riches will not secure happiness.

1. Common among] RV 'heavy upon.'

2. A stranger] because he has no child to whom to leave it. The Easterns have a dread of being without a child, to keep the parents' name in remembrance: cp. Gen_15:2.

3. And his soul] RV 'But his soul.' Misfortunes may render him miserable, though he has abundance of children and of years of life. Examples are Rehoboam (2Ch_11:21) and Ahab (2Ki_10:1). That he have no burial] The greatest importance was assigned to this tribute of respect: cp. Jer_22:19;

4. He] RV 'it,' i.e. the untimely birth: so in Ecc_6:5.

6. Yet hath he seen] RV 'and yet enjoy.' To one place?] The grave embraces all alike.

7-12. The conditions of man's life are essentially uncertain. Man's aim is in the main directed to the satisfaction of his bodily desires. Yet at best this cannot be perfectly attained. The wise, no less than the fool, the poor equally with the rich, finds imperfect satisfaction in life.

8. That knoweth to walk before the living?] In other words, that has the skill so to conduct himself as to earn respect in the eyes of his fellows.

9. Better is] To enjoy what we have is better than yearning after things which elude our grasp. Vexation of spirit] see on Ecc_1:17.

10. That which hath been] RM 'Whatsoever he be.' Is named already] RV 'the name thereof was given long ago.' Man] RM 'Heb. Adam' Thus the sense of the v. is, 'From the beginning man's nature has corresponded to his bodily frame. He is known as man (Adam), because he was made out of the earth (Heb. Adamah), and he must accept his position: cp. Isa_45:9; Rom_9:20.

11. Things] RM 'words,' perhaps the profitless discussions common in the philosophical schools (e.g. on fate and free-will).

12. Man can neither judge what is really for his happiness in life nor foresee the future fate of that in which he may be interested.

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1. It is common among men — More accurately, It is heavy upon men.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 1-6. Section 9. Koheleth proceeds to illustrate the fact which he stated at the end of the last chapter, viz. that the possession and enjoyment of wealth are alike the free gift of God. We may see men possessed of all the gifts of fortune, yet denied the faculty of enjoying them. Hence we again conclude that wealth cannot secure happiness.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun. The writer presents his personal experience, that which has fallen under his own observation. (comp. Ecc_5:13 Ecc_10:5) And it is common among men. Rab, Translated "common," like poluv in Greek, is used of number and of degree; hence there is some doubt about its meaning here. The Septuagint has pollh, the Vulgate frequens. Taking into account the fact that the circumstance stated is not one of general experience, we must receive the adjective in its tropical signification, and render, And it is great lies heavily upon men. Comp. Ecc_8:6, where the same word is used, and the preposition l is rather "upon" than "among". (Isa_24:20)

Vers. 1-6.

Sore evils beneath the sun; or, the misfortunes of a rich man.

I A RICH MAN WITHOUT THE CAPACITY OF ENJOYMENT.

1. A frequent occurrence. The picture that of one who has attained to great wealth, power, and honor, who has been conscious of large ambitions and has realized them, who has been filled with insatiable desires and possessed the means of gratifying them, and yet has been unable to extract from all his possessions, pleasures, and pursuits any grain of real and solid happiness.

2. A sorrowful experience. The Preacher characterizes it as an evil which lies heavy upon men. Upon the individual himself, whose hopes are disappointed and plans frustrated, whose riches, wealth, and honors thus become mocking decorations rather than real ornaments, and Whose pleasures and. gratifications turn into apples of Sodom rather than prove, as he expected they would do, grapes of Eshcol.

3. An instructive lesson. The valuable truth that the soul"s happiness is not, and cannot be, found in any creatures, however excellent, but only in God, (Psa_37:4) is thus forcibly pressed home upon the hearts and consciences of rich men themselves, and of such as observe the experiences through which they pass.

II A RICH MAN WITHOUT AN HEIR TO HIS WEALTH. A great diminution to the rich man"s happiness, who, in having no son or child, lacks:

1. That which is dearer to the heart of man than wealth, power, or fame. Unless the instincts of human nature have been utterly perverted by avarice, covetousness, and ambition, the hearts of rich no less than of poor men cling to their offspring, and, rather than lose these by death, would willingly surrender all their wealth. (2Sa_18:33)

2. That without which wealth and honor lose the greater part of their attractions. Abraham felt it a considerable detraction from the sweetness of Jehovah"s promise that he had no heir, and that all his possessions would ultimately pass into the hands of his steward, Eliezer of Damascus. (Gen_15:1-3)

3. That which gives to wealth-gathering and Tower-seeking their best justification. It is not certain that anything will justify these when inordinate; if anything will excuse a man for heaping up wealth in an honest and legitimate way, and for endeavoring to acquire power and influence amongst his fellows, it is the fact of his doing so with a view to promote the happiness of those God has made dependent on him, and bound to him by the ties of natural affection.

III A RICH MAN WITHOUT A TOMB FOR HIS CORPSE. (For a different rendering of this clause, "And moreover he have no" burial," see the Exposition.)

1. The case supposed. That of a rich man surrounded by many (a hundred) children, who lives long, but has no true enjoyment of his good fortune, and when he dies is denied the glory of a funeral such as Dives doubtless had, (Luk_16:22) and the shelter of a grave such as was not withheld even from Lazarus. How he should come at last to have no burial, though not explained, may be supposed to happen either through the meanness of his relatives or their hatred of him, or through his perishing in such a way (e.g. in war, at sea, through accident, by violence) as to render burial by his children impossible. Commentators cite as an illustration of the case supposed the murder by Bagoas of Artaxerxes Ochus (B.C. 3623-39), whose body was thrown to the cats. Another may be that of Jehoiakim, of whom it was predicted, (Jer_22:19) "He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

2. The judgment pronounced. That such a case is not to be compared in respect of felicity with that of "an untimely birth," which "cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;" i.e. which enters on a lifeless existence when born, and "is carried away inall quietness, without noise or ceremony," having received no name, and becoming forgotten as if it had never been (Delitzsch). The grounds on which the Preacher rests his judgment are three:

(1) that an untimely birth never sees the sun, and so escapes all sight of and contact with the sufferings and miseries of earth;

(2) that it never wakes to the exercise of intelligence, and so is never conscious of either the wickedness or the woe that is surging around it; and

(3) that it rests better in the grave to which it goes than does the corpse of the joyless rich man.

3. The correction needed. This pessimistic view of life may be thus admirably qualified. The allegation here made "contains a thought to which it is not easy to reconcile one"s self. 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 a 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" (Delitzsch).

IV A RICH MAN WITHOUT A BETTER LOT THAN HIS NEIGHBORS. "Do not all go to one place?" In the grave rich and poor differ not. The dusts of the patrician and of the plebeian, freely intermingled, no human chemistry can distinguish. A tremendous humiliation, no doubt, to human pride, that Solomon and the harlot"s child, Caesar and his slave, Dives and Lazarus, must ultimately lie together in the same narrow house that rich and poor, wise and unwise, powerful and powerless, honored and abject, kings and subjects, princes and peasants, masters and servants, must ultimately sleep side by side on the same couch; but so it is. And this, also, in the eyes of worldlings, but not of good men, is a vanity, and a sore evil beneath the sun.

LESSONS.

1. Riches are not the chief good.

2. Temporal evils may be sources of spiritual good.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1, 2.

The unsatisfactoriness and transitoriness of earthly good.

Men are prone to be guided, in the conclusions they form regarding human life, by their own personal experience, and by the observations they make in their own immediate circle of acquaintance. So judging, they are prone to be one-sided in their estimate, and to take a view either too gloomy or too roseate. The author of Ecclesiastes was a man who had very large and varied opportunities of studying mankind, and who was in the habit of forming impartial conclusions. This accounts for what may perhaps seem to some readers opposed and inconsistent representations of the nature of man"s life on earth. In fact, a more definite and decisive representation would have been less correct and fair.

I MEN LOOKING UPON THEIR FELLOW-MEN ARE PRONE TO GIVE TOO LARGE A MEASURE OF ATTENTION TO THEIR OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES. The first question that occurs to many minds, upon forming a new acquaintance, is What has he? i.e . what property? or What is he? i.e. what is his rank in society? A man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honor, who lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, is counted fortunate. He is held in esteem; his friendship and favor are cultivated.

II REFLECTING OBSERVERS BEAR IN MIND THAT THERE ARE OTHER ELEMENTS IN HUMAN WELFARE. For instance, it cannot be questioned that health of body and a sound and vigorous mind are of far more importance than wealth. And there may be family trouble, which mars the happiness of the most prosperous. The wise man had observed cases in which there was no power to enjoy the gifts of Providence; and other cases in which there were no children to succeed to the possession of accumulated wealth, so that it came into the hands of strangers. Bodily affliction and domestic disappointment may cast a shadow over the lot which seems the fairest and most desirable. "This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

III THESE IMPERFECTIONS IN THE HUMAN LOT OFTEN GIVE RISE TO MELANCHOLY REFLECTIONS AND DISTRESSING DOUBTS. Those who not only remark what happens around them, but reflect upon what they witness, draw inferences which have a certain semblance of validity. If we judge only by the facts which come under our cognizance, we may be led to conclusions inconsistent with true religion Men come to doubt the rule of a benevolent Governor of the universe, simply because they cannot reconcile certain facts with such convictions as Christianity encourages. Skepticism and pessimism often follow upon bitter experiences and upon frequent contact with the calamities of this mundane state.

IV WISDOM SUGGESTS A REMEDY FOR SUCH DIFFICULTIES AND DOUBTS.

1. It should be remembered that what any individual observes is but an infinitesimal part of the varied and protracted drama of human life and history.

2. It should not be lost sight of that there are moral and spiritual purposes in our earthly existence. It is a discipline, a proving, an education. Its end is not as men too often suppose that it should be enjoyment and pleasure; but character conformity to the Divine character, and submission to the Divine will. The highest benevolence aims at the highest ends, and to secure these it seems in many cases necessary that lower ends should be sacrificed. If temporal prosperity be marred by what seems misfortune, this may be in order that spiritual prosperity may be promoted. It may not be well for the individual that he should be encouraged to seek perfect satisfaction in the things of this world. It may not be well for society that great and powerful families should be built up, to gratify human pride and ambition. God"s ways are not as our ways, but they are wiser and better than ours. T.

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-6.

The insufficiency of circumstance.

The Preacher recurs to the same strain as that in which he spoke before. (Ecc_2:1-11) We have to face the same thoughts again.

I AN IMAGINARY ENRICHMENT. Let a man have, by supposition:

1. All the money that he can spend.

2. All the honor that waits on wealth.

3. All the luxuries that wealth can buy of every kind, material and mental (ver. 2).

4. Let him have an unusual measure of domestic enrichment and affection; let him be the recipient of all possible filial affection and obedience (ver. 3).

5. Let his life be indefinitely prolonged (ver. 6), so that it extends over many ordinary human lives. Give to a man not only what God does give to many, but give him that which, as things are, is not granted to the most favored of our race; and what then? What is

II THE PROBABLE RESULT. It will very likely end in simple and utter dissatisfaction. "God giveth him not the power to eat thereof;" "His soul is not filled with good;" he gets so little enjoyment out of all that he has at command, that "an untimely birth is better than he;" he feels that it would have been positively better for him if he had never been born. Subtract the evil from the good in his life, and you have nothing left but "a negative quantity." This is quite in accord with human experience. As much of profound discontent is found within the walls of the palace as under the cottage roof. The suicide is quite as likely to be found to be a "well-dressed man," belonging to "good society," as to be a man clad in rags and penniless.

III ITS EXPLANATION. The explanation of it is found in the fact that God has made us for himself, that he has "set eternity in our hearts", (Ecc_3:11) and that we are not capable of being satisfied with the sensible and the transient. Only the love and service of God can fill the heart that is made for the eternal and the Divine. (see homily on Ecc_1:7, Ecc_1:8)

IV ITS CHRISTIAN CORRECTION. There need never live a man who has known Jesus Christ of whom so sad a statement as this has to be made. For a Christian life:

1. Even when spent in poverty and obscurity, is filled with a holy contentment; it includes high and sacred joys; it is relieved by very precious consolations.

2. Contains and transmits a valuable influence on others.

3. Constitutes an excellency which God approves, and the angels of God admire.

4. Moves on to a glorious future. It does not end in the grave. C.

HOMILIES BY J. WILLCOCK Vers. 1-6.

Life without enjoyment valueless.

The problem which occupies the Preacher (vers. 1, 2) is virtually the same as that in Ecc_4:7, Ecc_4:8. It is not that which is discussed in the Book of Job, and the thirty-seventh and seventy-third psalms, viz. why the wicked often prosper, and the righteous often suffer adversity. It is that of men blessed with riches, with children, and with long life, and debarred all enjoyment of these blessings. In the Law of Moses these had been the rewards promised for obedience to God, (Deu_28:1-14) but the Preacher sees that something more is needed for happiness than the mere possession of them. There is another "gift of God" needed in order that one may enjoy the good of any one of them.

I The first picture (vers. 1, 2) is that of A RICH MAN, able to gratify every desire, but incapable of making his wealth yield him any pleasure or satisfaction. He may be a miser, afraid to make use of his riches; he may be in ill health, and find that his wealth cannot procure for him any alleviation of his pains; his domestic circumstances may be so unhappy as to cast a cloud over his prosperity. From various causes, such as these, the evil upon which our author remarks is common enough in human society great wealth failing to procure for its possessor any enjoyment he can relish, and perhaps passing at last, on his death, into the hands of a stranger, for want of an heir to whom he might have had some satisfaction in leaving it.

II A second case of a different kind is suggested in vers. 3-6. The rich man is NOT CHILDLESS, but has a numerous family, and lives out all his days; but he, too, often has no happiness in his life, and perhaps even fails to find honorable burial when he dies. His fate is worse than that of the stillborn child that has never tasted of life. "The abortion has the advantage in not having known anything; for it is better to know nothing at all than to know nothing but trouble. It is laid in the grave without having tasted the miseries of human life; in the grave, where, amid the silence and solitude of death, the cares and disappointments, the disquietudes and mortifications and distresses of this world are neither felt nor dreamed of" (Wardlaw). However gloomy these reflections of our author"s may seem at first sight, when we examine them a little more closely we find that they are not so somber in their character as many of the utterances of pessimistic philosophy. He does not contrast being with not-being, and declare that the latter is preferable, but he declares a joyless life to be inferior to that which has been "cut off from the womb." His teaching that the value of existence is to be measured by the amount of good that has been enjoyed in it, is so far from being the utterance of a despairing pessimism that most sober-minded persons would accept it as reasonable and true. Specimens of utterances which, to a superficial reader, might appear to be closely akin to his, but which really are the expression of a very much darker mood than his, might easily be given. Thus we have in Theognis (425-428)

Best lot for man is never to be born, Nor ever see the bright rays of the morn: Next best, when born, to haste with quickest tread Where Hades" gates are open for the dead, And rest with much earth gathered for our bed?

And in Sophocles ("fed. Colossians," 1225)

Never to be at all Excels all fame; Quickly, next best, to pass From whence we came.

And according to the teaching of Schopenhauer, the non-existence of the world is to be preferred to its existence. The world is cursed with four great evils birth, disease, old age, and death. "Existence is only a punishment," and the feeling of misery which often accompanies it is "repentance" for the great crime of having come into the world by yielding to the "will to live" (Wright, "Ecclesiastes," p. 158). Such despairing utterances, when found in the writings of those who have not known God, move us to compassion, but we can scarcely avoid the feeling of indignation when we find them on the lips of those who have known God, but have not "retained him in their knowledge." And we must beware of concluding, after a hasty and superficial reading of the Book of Ecclesiastes, that its author, even in his darkest mood, sank to the depth of atheism and despair which they reveal. J.W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The vanity of riches without use, ver. 1-6. They are unsatisfactory, ver. 7-10. It is folly to think of happiness in the things of this world, ver. 11, 12.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Of the Vanity of Earthly Riches.

v. 1. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men, it weighs heavily upon a great many unfortunate people;

v. 2. a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, even to the point of luxury, all the highest gifts known to man here on earth, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, lacking nothing of things which are commonly considered most desirable by men, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, either on account of illness or by reason of excessive and oppressive cares, but a stranger eateth it, the heirs of such a man rioting and reveling in the enjoyment of the goods for which they did not labor; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease, it is like a severe illness which deprives a person of all joy in life.

v. 3. If a man beget an hundred children, the possession of a great many children being considered a most extraordinary blessing of the Lord, and live many years, In a long and happy life, so that the days of his years be many, the full sum allotted to men, and his soul be not filled with good, not having the satisfaction of a real enjoyment of God’s blessings in the status of a child of God, and also that he have no burial, being deprived of honor even in his death, this being considered a great disgrace in Oriental countries; I say that an untimely birth is better than he, it would have been better for him if he had never been born.

v. 4. For he cometh in with vanity, naked, poor, into an empty existence, and departeth in darkness, into a future which holds no hope for him, and his name shall be covered with darkness, assigned to utter forgetfulness and oblivion, in an unhonored death.

v. 5. Moreover he hath not seen the sun, he has never had any enjoyment of life, nor known anything, shut out from everything that might bring happiness; this hath more rest than the other, that is, the unborn child is less troubled with the annoyances of life than the miser.

v. 6. Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, more than twice as long as the oldest patriarchs from Adam to Noah, yet hath he seen no good, his own gloomy covetousness depriving him of any true enjoyment of life; do not all go to one place? for the realm of the dead is bound to receive all men without exception.

v. 7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, his chief concern in this life being the satisfaction of his hunger and of the sensual enjoyment of food, and yet the appetite is not filled, the soul is not satisfied, for a person living for this world only will never have his fill of sensual delights.

v. 8. For what hath the wise more than the fool? He who strives after real knowledge seems to have no advantage, according to outward appearances, over one who lives only for the satisfaction of his sensual nature. What hath the poor that knoweth to walk before the living? That is, What advantage has the wise person, who strives for true humility, who leads a quiet and retired life, over him who disregards all considerations of this kind and boldly lives for his own interest alone?

v. 9. Better is the sight of the eyes, the pleasant and sensible enjoyment of that which this life offers, than the wandering of the desire, when a person, dissatisfied with his lot, is ever planning something great for himself; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit, such restlessness and dissatisfaction brings only misery.

v. 10. That which hath been is named already, men have, in the past, inquired into its nature, and it is known that it is man, that is, man is vanity, all his vaunted greatness is nothing; neither may he contend with Him that is mightier than he, God being the absolute Sovereign of the universe, whom no one can withstand.

v. 11. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, on account of the many trials, dangers, and changes of fortune with which man must contend, what is man the better? namely, in possessing wealth or the means for enjoying sensual delights.

v. 12. For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? How can any mere human being, himself subject to change and decay, decide just what special condition of fortunes will be most beneficial to him? For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? The future of every person’s existence and fortunes is not in his own hands, but under the direction of God, to whom all believers will therefore entrust themselves, with all that they have, in childlike confidence.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ecc 6:10-12

I. Fate is fixed. All the past was the result of a previous destiny, and so shall be all the future. Such is the sentiment of the third chapter, and such appears to be the import of this passage. It must be conceded that the Saviour assumes a preordination in all events. But then what sort of preordination was it which the Saviour recognised? Was it mechanical or moral? Was it blind destiny or wise decree? Was it fate, or was it providence? As interpreted by "the only begotten Son from the bosom of the Father," that pre-arrangement of events which the theologian calls predestination, and the philosopher necessity, and which the old heathenism called fate, is nothing more than the will of the Father—the good pleasure of that blessed and only Potentate whose omniscience foresaw all possibilities, and from out of all these possibilities whose benevolent wisdom selected the best and gave it being. It depends on whether we are spectators or sons, whether our emotion towards the Divine foreknowledge and sovereignty be, "O Fate, I fear thee," or "O Father, I thank Thee."

II. Man is feeble. Christless humanity is a very feeble thing. Redeemed and regenerate humanity is only a little lower than the angels.

III. Every joy is futile. "Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better?" Enter into Christ’s peace, and learn to delight in His perfections; and thus, while sinful pleasures lose their relish, lawful joys will acquire a flavour of sacredness and the zest of a sweet security. Or should the cistern break, and the creature fail, the infinite joy is Jehovah; and the soul cannot wither whose roots are replenished from that fountain unfailing.

IV. Life is fleeting. It is a "vain life," and all its days a "shadow." But Jesus Christ hath brought immortality to light. This fleeting life He hath rendered important as a "shadow from the rock Eternity."

V. The future is a dark enigma. "Who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?" It may quiet all the Christian’s anxiety to know that when he himself is gone to be for ever with the Lord Christ’s kingdom will be spreading in the world. "Then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And He said, Go thou thy way till the end be, for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."

J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, p. 146.

References: Ecc 5:12.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 189. 5—C. Bridges, An Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 96.

Ecclesiastes 6

I. Throughout this sixth chapter the Preacher is speaking of the lover of riches, not simply of the rich man; not against wealth, but against mistaking wealth for the chief good. The man who trusts in riches is placed before us; and, that we may see him at his best, he has the riches in which he trusts. Yet because he does not accept his abundance as the gift of God, and hold the Giver better than His gift, he cannot enjoy it. "All the labour of this man is for his mouth;" that is to say, his wealth, with all that it commands, appeals to sense and appetite: it feeds the lust of the eye, or the lust of the flesh, or the pride of life; and therefore "his soul cannot be satisfied therewith." That craves a higher nutriment, a more enduring good. God has put eternity into it; and how can that which is immortal be contented with the lucky haps and comfortable conditions of time? Unless some immortal provision be made for the immortal spirit, it will pine, and protest, and crave till all power of happily enjoying outward good be lost.

II. Look at your means and possessions. Multiply them as you will, yet there are many reasons why, if you seek your chief good in them, they should prove vanity and breed vexation of spirit. (1) One is that beyond a certain point you cannot use or enjoy them. (2) Another reason is that it is hard, so hard as to be impossible, for you to know "what it is good" for you to have. That on which you had set your heart may prove to be an evil rather than a good when at last you get it. (3) A third reason is that the more you acquire, the more you must dispose of when you are called away from this life; and who can tell what shall be after him?

These are the Preacher’s arguments against love of riches. If we can trust in God to give us all that it will be really good for us to have, the arguments of the Preacher are full of comfort and hope for us, whether we be rich or whether we be poor.

S. Cox, The Quest of the Chief Good, p. 181.

References: 6—C. Bridges, An Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 122; J. H. Cooke, The Preacher’s Pilgrimage, p. 89. 6-8:15.—G. G. Bradley, Lectures on Ecclesiastes, p. 93. Ecc 7:1.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii., No. 1588; J. Hamilton, The Royal Preacher, p. 159; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 204. Ecc 7:1-4.—W. Simpson, Ibid., vol. x., p. 286. Ecc 7:1-10.—R. Buchanan, Ecclesiastes: its Meaning and Lessons, p. 221. Ecc 7:1-14.—T. C. Finlayson, A Practical Exposition of Ecclesiastes, p. 151. Ecc 7:2.—J. Morgan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 379. Ecc 7:2-5.—J. Bennet, The Wisdom of the King, p. 336.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

it weighs heavy on men

Here evil is spoken of as something that is a heavy load to carry. AT: "it causes hardship for people" (See: Metaphor)

riches, wealth

These two words mean basically the same thing. They refer to money and the things that a person can buy with money. (See: Doublet)

he lacks nothing

This is a double negative. AT: "he has everything" (See: Double Negatives)

God gives him no ability

"does not give him the ability"

vapor

The author speaks of useless and meaningless things as if they were mist. See how you translated this in Ecclesiastes 1:14. AT: "as useless as vapor" or "meaningless" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

evil

God

honor

afflicted

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and it is prevalent among men It affects many men.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.