Chapter Six

1–9. The inability to make use of wealth. 10–12. The powerlessness of man and the vanity of life.

Ecclesiastes 6:1. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is widespread among men: Ecclesiastes 6:2. God gives to a man wealth, property, and glory, so that his soul lacks nothing that he desires; but God does not give him power to enjoy it, and a stranger enjoys it: this is vanity and a grievous evil! Ecclesiastes 6:3. If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, and the days of his years become many, yet his soul does not enjoy good, and moreover he has no proper burial, then I say: better is a stillborn child than he, Ecclesiastes 6:4. for it came in vain and departed into darkness, and its name is covered by darkness. Ecclesiastes 6:5. It has not even seen or known the sun: it would be more at peace than he. Ecclesiastes 6:6. But even if he had lived two thousand years and did not enjoy good, do not all go to one place? The Preacher continues to develop his favorite thought about man’s inability to enjoy wealth and life in general. Very often it happens that men, possessing great wealth, derive no joy from it. To their lot falls only labor and care, while the joys of life are given to others. These rich men, who saw neither light nor joy in life, are more unfortunate than stillborn children, for they go down into the grave with the bitter consciousness of a meaninglessly spent life. “Nor had he proper burial,” that is, not having tasted the joys of life, they did not meet with sympathy and honor at death.

Ecclesiastes 6:7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, yet his soul is not satisfied. All the labor of man aims at acquiring goods and satisfying his needs. But human desires are boundless, and instead of enjoying what he has, he strives only for new acquisitions.

Ecclesiastes 6:8. What advantage has the wise over the fool? What has the poor man who knows how to walk before the living? “A poor man who knows how to walk before the living,” that is, a poor man who knows how to live in communion with men and thus lead a pleasant and quiet life. The advantage of the wise over the fool consists in this: while a rich miser in gloomy seclusion avoids men, the wise man enjoys communion with men, thinking least of all about increasing wealth.

Ecclesiastes 6:9. It is better to see with one’s eyes than for the soul to wander. This also is vanity and chasing after wind! Better to see with one’s eyes what exists than for the soul to wander among unrealizable hopes and unfulfilled desires. Better to enjoy the little that you have than to live in constant cares about the future. The Preacher, however, does not forget that seeing with one’s eyes, that is, the joys available to man, by no means constitute complete happiness, Ithron. They are, in essence, also vanity, for they are fleeting.

Ecclesiastes 6:10. What exists already has a name, and it is known what man is, and that he cannot contend with one who is stronger than he. Ecclesiastes 6:11. There are many things that multiply vanity: what is better for man? Ecclesiastes 6:12. For who knows what is good for man in his life, all the days of his vain life, which he spends as a shadow? And who will tell man what will be after him under the sun? The unchangeability of the existing order, the impossibility for man to contend with its Creator, and many other things multiply the vanity of life. Man, perforce, has to content himself with little, for he does not know what is better, and the future is unknown to him.