Ecclesiastes 6

General context

The Preacher describes an evil he has seen under the sun and calls common among men: a man to whom God has given riches, wealth and honour, wanting nothing he desires, yet to whom God does not give the power to eat of it, so that a stranger eats it instead. He calls this vanity and an evil disease. He then sets a harder case: a man who begets a hundred children and lives many years, yet whose soul is not filled with good and who has no burial. The Preacher says an untimely birth is better than he, since that birth comes in with vanity, departs in darkness, has its name covered with darkness, has not seen the sun nor known anything, and yet has more rest. Even a life of a thousand years twice told with no good seen ends in the same place as everything else. All labour is for the mouth, yet the appetite is not filled; the wise has nothing more than the fool, and the poor man who knows how to walk before the living is asked what he has. The sight of the eyes is called better than the wandering of desire, and this too is vanity. What has been is already named, and it is known that it is man, who cannot contend with one mightier than he. The chapter ends with questions: with so many things that increase vanity, what is man the better, who knows what is good for man in his vain life spent as a shadow, and who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun.

Cited passages: Ecclesiastes 6:1, Ecclesiastes 6:2, Ecclesiastes 6:3, Ecclesiastes 6:4, Ecclesiastes 6:5, Ecclesiastes 6:6, Ecclesiastes 6:7, Ecclesiastes 6:8, Ecclesiastes 6:9, Ecclesiastes 6:10, Ecclesiastes 6:11, Ecclesiastes 6:12

Ecclesiastes 6 (KJV)

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Historical context

The chapter continues the case that ended chapter 5, where God's gift included the power to eat of one's riches; here the man has the riches but not that power, and the stranger who eats it is not identified. Both the rich man and the father of a hundred children are unnamed types, and the Preacher marks his verdict with I say. The condition that he have no burial is stated as part of the case and not explained. The one mightier than man in verse 10 is not named; the text says only that man cannot contend with him. The claim that what has been is named already and known to be man is stated without further gloss. The Preacher does not answer his own closing questions about what is good for man or what comes after him; the chapter ends with them open. Nothing in the chapter is dated or located beyond the phrase under the sun, and no ruler, city or people is mentioned.

Cited passages: Ecclesiastes 6:2, Ecclesiastes 6:3, Ecclesiastes 6:10, Ecclesiastes 6:12, Ecclesiastes 6:1

Literary context

The chapter escalates by numbers and then collapses them. A man who wants nothing has it eaten by a stranger; a man with a hundred children and many years is outdone by an untimely birth; a life of a thousand years twice told still goes to one place. The untimely birth is described in a chain of darkness, coming in with vanity, departing in darkness, its name covered with darkness, and the surprising verdict is rest. From verse 7 the chapter shifts to short sayings and questions: mouth and appetite, wise and fool, sight and wandering desire. The refrain vanity and vexation of spirit closes the sayings, as it has closed sections since chapter 1. The final two verses are made of questions, three in a row, and the chapter offers no answer, leaving the phrase what shall be after him, already heard in chapter 3, as the last word. The comparison better is, used in chapter 4 for quietness and companionship, is turned here to the darkest case in the book, the unborn over the long-lived.

Cited passages: Ecclesiastes 6:2, Ecclesiastes 6:3, Ecclesiastes 6:6, Ecclesiastes 6:4, Ecclesiastes 6:5, Ecclesiastes 6:7, Ecclesiastes 6:9, Ecclesiastes 6:11, Ecclesiastes 6:12

Key moments

1. A stranger eats it (Ecclesiastes 6:2). God gives a man riches and honour but not the power to eat of them.
2. Better an untimely birth (Ecclesiastes 6:3). A father of a hundred children with no good and no burial is ranked below a stillborn.
3. The unborn has more rest (Ecclesiastes 6:5). One who never saw the sun is said to have more rest than the unsatisfied man.
4. All go to one place (Ecclesiastes 6:6). Even two thousand years without good end where everything else ends.
5. The appetite is not filled (Ecclesiastes 6:7). All labour is for the mouth, yet the appetite stays unfilled.
6. Who can tell what comes after (Ecclesiastes 6:12). The chapter closes with unanswered questions about what is good and what follows.

For reflection

The Preacher says the man who has everything but cannot enjoy it suffers an evil disease, and that an untimely birth has more rest than a long life with no good seen. What does the chapter treat as the real measure of a life, given that it names neither years nor children nor wealth as enough?