Ecclesiastes 6:3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:1-6

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, Eccl. 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:3

If a man beget an hundred children ,.... Sons and daughters, a certain number for an uncertain. Some have had many children, and almost this number; Rehoboam had twenty eight sons and threescore daughters; and Ahab had seventy sons, how many daughters is not said, 2 Chronicles 11:21 ; this was reckoned a great honour and happiness to have many children; happy was the man that had his quiver full of them, Psalm 127:3 ; such a case is here supposed; and live many years, so that the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 6:3

If a man beget a hundred children - If he have the most numerous family and the largest possessions, and is so much attached to his riches that he grudges himself a monument; an abortion in the eye of reason is to be preferred to such a man; himself is contemptible, and his life worthless. The abortion comes in with vanity - baulks expectation, departs in darkness - never opened its eyes upon the light, and its name is covered with darkness - it has no place in the family register, or in the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:1-6

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 . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:3

If a man beget an hundred children . Another case is supposed, differing from,the preceding one, where the rich man dies childless. Septuagint, ἐὰν γεννήσῃ ἀνὴρ , ἑκατόν . "Sons,' or "children," must be supplied. To have a large family was regarded as a great blessing. The "hundred" is a round number, though we read of some fathers who had nearly this number of children; thus Ahab had seventy sons ( 2 Kings 10:1 ), Rehoboam eighty-eight children ( 2 Chronicles 11:21 ).... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ecclesiastes 6:3

No burial - For a corpse to lie unburied was a circumstance in itself of special ignominy and dishonor (compare the marginal references). read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ecclesiastes 6:3-6

Ecclesiastes 6:3-6. If a man beget a hundred children Very many, to whom he intends to leave his estate; and live many years Which is the chief thing that he desires, and which gives him opportunity of increasing his estate vastly; and his soul be not filled with good If he have not a contented mind, and a comfortable enjoyment of his estate; and also have no burial And if, after his death, he have either none, or a mean and dishonourable burial, because his sordid and covetous conduct... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:1-12

Advice about money (5:8-6:12)Greed for money is a common social evil and the cause of much suffering. Because of such greed, government officials exploit poor farmers. Each official makes sure he takes as much money as he can, so that after he has passed some of it on to those above him who protect him, he has enough left for himself. As for the farmers, besides losing their profits to corrupt officials, they must also give some of their harvest as a tax to the king (8-9).Prosperity does not... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Ecclesiastes 6:3

filled = satisfied. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Ecclesiastes 6:3

THE TRAGEDY OF THE GREAT MAN DENIED A BURIAL"If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; 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 in darkness; moreover it hath 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... read more