Ecclesiastes 5:14-19

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 5:17

All his days also he eateth in darkness - Even his enjoyments are embittered by uncertainty. He fears for his goods; the possibility of being deprived of them fills his heart with anguish. But instead of יאכל yochel , "he shall eat," ילך yelech , "he shall walk," is the reading of several MSS. He walks in darkness - he has no evidence of salvation. There is no ray of light from God to penetrate the gloom; and all beyond life is darkness impenetrable! And wrath with his sickness - ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 5:18

Behold that which I have seen - This is the result of my observations and experience. God gives every man, in the course of his providence, the necessaries of life; and it is his will that he should thankfully use them. For it is his portion - What is requisite for him in the lower world; without them his life cannot subsist, and earthly blessings are as truly the portion of his body and animal life, as the salvation of God is the portion of his soul. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:8-17

Section 7. Perils to which one is exposed in a despotic state, and the unprofitableness of riches. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:10-17

The thought of the acts of injustice and oppression noticed above, all of which spring from the craving for money, leads the bard to dwell upon the evils that accompany this pursuit and possession of wealth, which is thus seen to give no real satisfaction. Avarice has already been noticed ( Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 ); the covetous man now reprobated is one who desires wealth only for the enjoyment he can get from it, or the display which it enables him to make, not, like the miser, who gloats... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:13-17

Another view of the evils attendant upon riches is here presented: the owner may lose them at a stroke, and leave nothing for his children. This thought is presented in different lights. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:14

Those riches perish by evil travail; thing or circumstance. There is no need to confine the cause of the loss to unsuccessful business, as many commentators do. The rich man does not seem to be a tradesman or speculator; he loses his property, like Job, by visitations for which he is in no way answerable—by storm or tempest, by robbers, by fire, by exactions, or by lawsuits. And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. The verb rendered "begetteth" is in the past tense, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:15

The case of the rich man who has lost his property is here generalized. What is true of him is, in a measure, true of every one, so far as he can carry nothing away with him when he dies ( Psalms 49:17 ). As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came. There is a plain reference to Job 1:21 , "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither." The mother is the earth, human beings being regarded as her offspring. So the psalmist... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:16

This also is a sore evil . The thought of Ecclesiastes 5:15 is emphatically repeated. In all points as he came ; i . e . naked, helpless. And what profit hath he that laboreth for the wind? The answer is emphatically "nothing." We have had similar questions in Ecclesiastes 1:3 ; Ecclesiastes 2:22 ; Ecclesiastes 3:9 . To labor for the wind is to toil with no result, like the "feeding on wind, pursuing of vanity," which is the key-note of the book. The wind is the type of all... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:17

The misery that accompanies the rich man's whole life is summed up here, where one has to think chiefly of his distress after his loss of fortune. All his days also he eateth in darkness ; i . e . passes his life in gloom and cheerlessness. כָּל־יָמָיו , "all his days," is the accusative of time, not the object of the verb. To eat in darkness is not a common metaphor for spending a gloomy life, but it is a very natural one, and has analogies in this book ( e . g . Ecclesiastes... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 5:18

Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely , etc. The accentuation is against this rendering, which, however, has the support of the Syriac and the Targum. The Septuagint gives, ἰδοὺ εἶδον ἐγὼ ἀγαθὸν ὅ ἐστι καλόν , "Behold, I have seen a good which is comely;" and it is best to translate, with Delitzsch and others, "Behold, what I have seen as good, what as beautiful, is this." My conclusion holds good. They who seek for traces of Greek influence in Koheleth find... read more

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