1 The vanity of riches without use. 3 Of children, 6 and old age without riches. 9 The vanity of sight and wandering desires. 11 The conclusion of vanities.
Ecc 6:1 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind:
Ecc 6:2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This ianingless, a grievous evil.
The “honour” here referred to is that of material glory and splendor, such as God had bestowed upon Solomon (1 Kings 3:13; 2 Chron. 1:11, 12).
Ecc 6:3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
The reference here is to the more sensuous side of one’s being (see Job 12:11; Prov. 16:26; Isa. 29:8). A lifetime is spent in labor to meet the requirements of an ever demanding appetite, observes the wise man, yet without attainment of the supreme good.
Ecc 6:4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded.
Ecc 6:5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—
Ecc 6:6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
Ecc 6:7 Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied
Ecc 6:8 What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
The fool, thinking of nothing but his desires and his appetites, constantly frets and strives for more than he possesses. Yet the poor man and the fool are alike in that neither can get all he would like to have.
Ecc 6:9 Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
It is better to be content with that which is at hand than to be ever longing for what is not. A fool’s eyes are in the ends of the earth. Wandering. The intense desire for the beyond one’s reach. This “roving of the appetite’’ often leads to crimes of violence.
Ecc 6:10 Whatever exists has already been named, and what humanity is has been known; no one can contend with someone who is stronger.
Ecc 6:11 The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?
Men are prone to talk and to complain, but a superabundance of words does not tend to improve any situation. It is more profitable that a man should learn to trust his Creator (Isa. 45:11–18; Acts 17:24–Many words and vain speculations contribute little to the solution of life’s problems.
Ecc 6:12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
Inasmuch as man himself cannot discover the ultimate good of life, he should recognize the futility of complaining and disputing with God. The question here asked anticipates a negative answer.
Man is compared to a passing shadow, here for a moment and then gone (see 1 Chron. 29:15; Job 8:9; Ps. 102:11; 144:4; cf. James 4:14).
What will happen. Man cannot disclose the future. His life is but a moment between two eternities. The things of time are transient; the unseen things are eternal and are in the hand of God (see 2 Cor. 4:17, 18).