Ecclesiastes 6:12 - Exposition

This verse in the Greek and Latin versions, as in some copies of the Hebrew, is divorced from its natural place, as the conclusion of the paragraph, Ecclesiastes 6:10 , Ecclesiastes 6:11 , and is arranged as the commencement of Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 . Plainly, the Divine prescience of Ecclesiastes 7:10 , Ecclesiastes 7:11 is closely connected with the question of man's ultimate good and his ignorance of the future, enunciated in this verse. For who knoweth what is good for man in this life? Such discussions are profitless, for man knows not what is his real good—whether pleasure, apathy, or virtue, as philosophers would put it. To decide such questions he must be able to foresee results, which is denied him. The interrogative "Who knows?" is equivalent to an emphatic negative, as Ecclesiastes 3:21 , and is a common rhetorical form which surely need not be attributed to Pyrrhonism (Plumptre). All the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow. These words amplify and explain the term "in life" of the preceding clause. They may be rendered literally, During the number of the days of the life ( Ecclesiastes 5:18 ) of his vanity , and he passeth them as a shadow . A life of vanity is one that yields no good result, full of empty aims, unsatisfied wishes, unfulfilled purposes. It is the man who is here compared to the shadow, not his life. So Job 14:2 , "He fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not," He soon passes away, and leaves no trace behind him. The thought is common. "Ye [Revised Version] are a vapor," says St. James ( James 4:14 ), "that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Plumptre well quotes Soph; 'Ajax,' 125—

ὁρῶ γὰρ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲν ὄντας ἄλλο πλὴν

εἴδωλ ὅσοιπερ ζῶμεν ἢ κούφην σκιάν

"In this I see that we, all we that live,

Are but vain shadows, unsubstantial dreams."

To which we may add Pind; 'Pyth.,' 8.95—

ἐπάμεροι τί δέ τις τίδ οὔ τις σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄνθρωπος .

"Ye creatures of a day!

What is the great man what the poor?

Naught but a shadowy dream."

The comparison of man's life to a shadow or vapor is equally general (comp. Ecclesiastes 8:13 ; 1 Chronicles 29:15 ; Psalms 102:11 ; Psalms 144:4 ; Wis. 2:5; James 4:14 ). The verb used for "spendeth" is asah , "to do or make," which recalls the Greek phrase, χρόνον ποιεῖν , and the Latin, dies facere (Cic; 'Ad Attic.,' 5.20. 1); but we need not trace Greek influence in the employment of the expression here. For who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? This does not refer to the life beyond the grave, but to the future in the present world, as the words, "under the sun," imply (comp. Ecclesiastes 3:22 ; Ecclesiastes 7:14 ). To know what is best for him, to arrange his present life according to his own wishes and plans, to be able to depend upon his own counsel for all the actions and designs which he undertakes, man should know what is to be after him, what result his labors will have, who and what kind of heir will inherit his property, whether he will leave children to carry on his name, and other facts of the like nature; but as this is all hidden from him, his duty and his happiness is to acquiesce in the Divine government, to enjoy with moderation the goods of life, and to be content with the modified satisfaction which is accorded to him by Divine beneficence.