Chapter 6
Limited Worth of Enjoyment. 1 There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon humankind: 2 (A)There is one to whom God gives riches and property and honor, and who lacks nothing the heart could desire; yet God does not grant the power to partake of them, but a stranger devours them. This is vanity and a dire plague. 3 Should one have a hundred children and live many years, no matter to what great age, still if one has not the full benefit of those goods, I proclaim that the child born dead, even if left unburied, is more fortunate. 4 (B)Though it came in vain and goes into darkness and its name is enveloped in darkness, 5 though it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet the dead child has more peace. 6 Should such a one live twice a thousand years and not enjoy those goods, do not both go to the same place?
7 All human toil is for the mouth, yet the appetite is never satisfied. 8 What profit have the wise compared to fools, or what profit have the lowly in knowing how to conduct themselves in life? 9 “What the eyes see is better than what the desires wander after.” This also is vanity and a chase after wind.
II. Qoheleth’s Conclusions
10 Whatever is, was long ago given its name, and human nature is known; mortals cannot contend in judgment with One who is stronger. 11 For the more words, the more vanity; what profit is there for anyone? 12 (C)For who knows what is good for mortals in life, the limited days of their vain life, spent like a shadow? Because who can tell them what will come afterward under the sun?(D)
Footnotes
- 6:3
- 6:6
- 6:7
- 6:9
- 6:10–11
Cross references
- 6:2 : Eccl 2:18–19.
- 6:4 : Eccl 4:2–3; Jb 3:11, 16.
- 6:12 : Jb 8:9; 14:2; Ps 102:12.
- 6:12 : Eccl 3:22; 8:7.
