Ecclesiastes 6:1 - Exposition

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun. The writer presents his personal experience, that which has fallen under his own observation (comp. Ecclesiastes 5:13 ; Ecclesiastes 10:5 ). And it is common among men. Rab , Translated "common," like πολὺς in Greek, is used of number and of degree; hence there is some doubt about its meaning here. The Septuagint has πολλή , the Vulgate frequens . Taking into account the fact that the circumstance stated is not one of general experience, we must receive the adjective in its tropical signification, and render, And it is great [lies heavily] upon men. Comp. Ecclesiastes 8:6 , where the same word is used, and the preposition עַל is rather "upon" than "among" ( Isaiah 24:20 ).