Ecclesiastes 6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6

In this chapter, I. The royal preacher goes on further to show the vanity of worldly wealth, when men place their happiness in it and are eager and inordinate in laying it up. Riches, in the hands of a man that is wise and generous, and good for something, but in the hands of a sordid, sneaking, covetous miser, they are good for nothing. 1. He takes an account of the possessions and enjoyments which such a man may have. He has wealth (Eccl. 6:2), he has children to inherit it (Eccl. 6:3), and... read more

Matthew Henry

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

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:7-10

The preacher here further shows the vanity and folly of heaping up worldly wealth and expecting happiness in it. I. How much soever we toil about the world, and get out of it, we can have for ourselves no more than a maintenance (Eccl. 6:7): All the labour of man is for his mouth, which craves it of him (Prov. 16:26); it is but food and raiment; what is more others have, not we; it is all for the mouth. Meats are but for the belly and the belly for meats; there is nothing for the head and... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:11-22

Here, 1. Solomon lays down his conclusion which he had undertaken to prove, as that which was fully confirmed by the foregoing discourse: There be many things that increase vanity; the life of man is vain, at the best, and there are abundance of accidents that concur to make it more so; even that which pretends to increase the vanity and make it more vexatious. 2. He draws some inferences from it, which serve further to evince the truth of it. (1.) That a man is never the nearer to true... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 6 The wise man goes on to expose the vanity of riches, as possessed by a covetous man, who makes no use of them; an evil, and a common one under the sun, Ecclesiastes 6:1 ; Who is described by the good things he has; which he has not a power to enjoy, but a stranger enjoys them, Ecclesiastes 6:2 ; by his numerous offspring and long life; yet neither is he satisfied with good in life, nor has he a burial at death; wherefore an abortive is preferred unto him,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:1

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun ,.... The Vulgate Latin version reads it, another evil; but wrongly, for the same is considered as before, the evil of covetousness; which is one of the evil things that come out of the heart of man; is abominable to the Lord, contrary to his nature and will, and a breach of his law, which forbids it, and is the root of all evil; this is an evil under the sun, for there is nothing of this kind above it; and it fell under the observation of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:2

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour ,.... By "riches" may be meant gold and silver, things which a covetous man is never satisfied with; and by "wealth", cattle, with which farms and fields are stocked: the wealth of men, especially in former times, and in the eastern countries, lay very much in these, as did the wealth of Abraham and Job, Genesis 13:2 ; and all these, as they are reckoned glorious and honourable in themselves; so they create honour and glory among men,... 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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:4

For he cometh in with vanity ,.... The Targum adds, "into this world." Some understand this of the abortive, and render it, "though he cometh in with vanity" F24 כי בא "quamvis venit", Drusius. , yet is to be preferred to the covetous man: others interpret it of the covetous man himself; and scrape of both: or, however, they may be compared together in these instances; the abortive comes into the world in vain, for nothing, and answers no purpose, as can well be observed; and the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:5

Moreover, he hath not seen the sun ,.... This must be spoken of the abortive, and seems to confirm the sense of the former text, as belonging to it; and whereas it has never seen the light of the sun, nor enjoyed the pleasure and comfort of it, it is no ways distressing to it to be without it. The Targum is, "the light of the law he seeth not; and knoweth not between good and evil, to judge between this world and that to come:' so the Vulgate Latin version, "neither knows the difference... read more

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