Home› Bible› Ecclesiastes› Chapter 6

Ecclesiastes 6

KJ3 Literal Translation — Chapter 6 of 12

1 There is an evil thing that I have seen under the sun, and it is great upon men:

2 A man to whom God has given riches, and wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires; yet God does not give him the power to eat of it, but a foreign man eats it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

3 If a man fathers a hundred, and lives many years, and the days of his years are many, and his soul is not satisfied from the good, and also there is no burial for him; I say, a miscarriage is better than he.

Read full chapter in the Bible Reader

Chapter Summary

The vanity of riches without use. Of children, and old age without riches.

Key Hebrew Words

הֶ֫בֶל vanity, vapor H1892 · TWOT 463a
עֹ֫שֶׁר riches H6239 · TWOT 1714a
נֶ֫פֶשׁ soul, appetite H5315 · TWOT 1395a
טוֹבָה good H2896 · TWOT 793c
עָמָל labor, toil H5999 · TWOT 1639a
צֵל shadow H6738 · TWOT 1921a

People & Context

God

Gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, yet withholds the power to enjoy them, calling it vanity and an evil disease (v.2).

Timeline

The Tragedy of Wealth Without Enjoyment

It is a great evil when God grants a man wealth, honor, and riches but not the ability to enjoy them, allowing a foreign man to consume them instead.

Ecclesiastes 6:1-2
A Long Life Unfulfilled

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives two thousand years, if his soul is not satisfied with good, a miscarriage is deemed better than he.

Ecclesiastes 6:3-6
The Insatiable Appetite and Human Limitation

All human labor is for the mouth yet the soul remains unfilled, leaving the wise with no advantage over the fool since neither can contend with their Creator.

Ecclesiastes 6:7-10

Read Ecclesiastes 6 in the KJ3 Reader

Word-for-word literal translation with Hebrew interlinear, Strong's numbers, and audio.

Open in Bible Reader
Ecclesiastes 5EcclesiastesEcclesiastes 7