Ecclesiastes 6:4
in Ecclesiastes 6For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;
KJV
For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verseFor he cometh in with vanity,.... The Targum adds, "into this world."
This site's exposition
A man may father a hundred children
on Ecclesiastes 6:3-6
The case grows harsher: a man may father a hundred children, yet if he is unsatisfied and unburied, a stillborn child is better than he. The stillborn enters in futility and departs in darkness, yet has more rest than that man, though he lived a thousand years twice over.
This site's exposition
a stillborn child enters in futility
Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the pronouns as it and its, referring to the stillborn. The child comes to no purpose and leaves no name. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take its darkness as a type of the unhonored death of the man who makes riches his chief good.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"There is an evil I have observed beneath the sun, and it is prevalent among mankind; a man to whom God has given riches, wealth and honour, and he lacks nothing that his heart could desire, yet God did not give him the power to enjoy it. This is futility and an evil disease. If a man begets an hundred children and lives many years - great being the days of his life - and his soul is not content with the good - and he even is deprived of burial; I say: the stillborn is better off than he.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 6 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"For he comes in vain" etc. Here is subjoined thirdly the reason for the detestation, namely that an abortive is better than one who is miserly in this manner, because, just as an abortive comes in vain and goes to darkness, since it immediately dies, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He - The abortive; of whom alone, that passage is true, hath not seen the sun, ver. 5. In vain - To no purpose; without any comfort or benefit by it. Departeth - Without any observation or regard of men.
): He comes in with vanity (for, as to this world, he that is born and dies immediately was born in vain), and he departs in darkness; little or no notice is taken of him; being an abortive, he has no name, or, if he had, it would soon be forgotten and buried in oblivion; it would be covered with darkness, as the body is with the earth.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
He describes his folly in not taking the comfort of it; he has no power to eat of it, lets strangers devour it, is never filled with good, and at last has no burial,
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
he--rather "it," "the untimely birth." So "its," not "his name." with vanity--to no purpose; a type of the driftless existence of him who makes riches the chief good. darkness--of the abortive; a type of the unhonored death and dark future beyond the grave of the avaricious.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He ... his - Rather, it ... its. The untimely birth is spoken of.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
If a man begets a hundred [children]. Children. 4 “A hundred” is figuratively speaking, it is an expression used to denote “many.” (Ibn Ezra)
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בַהֶ֥בֶל | vahevel | in <the> futility | H1892 → | 73 times |
| בָּ֖א | ba' | it came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וּבַחֹ֣שֶׁךְ | uvachoshekh | and in <the> darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| יֵלֵ֑ךְ | yelekh | it will go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וּבַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ | uvachoshekh | and in <the> darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| שְׁמ֥וֹ | shemo | name its | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יְכֻסֶּֽה׃ | yekhuseh | it is covered | H3680 → |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בַהֶ֥בֶלin <the> futility
vahevelH1892 →73 times
בָּ֖אit came
ba'H935 →2568 times
וּבַחֹ֣שֶׁךְand in <the> darkness
uvachoshekhH2822 →80 times
יֵלֵ֑ךְit will go
yelekhH1980 →1546 times
וּבַחֹ֖שֶׁךְand in <the> darkness
uvachoshekhH2822 →80 times
שְׁמ֥וֹname its
shemoH8034 →864 times
יְכֻסֶּֽה׃it is covered
yekhusehH3680 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 109:13May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
it leads to
- Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Psalms 37:28
For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- Job 18:19
He has no offspring or posterity among his people, no survivor where he once lived.
- Psalms 21:10
You will wipe their descendants from the earth, and their offspring from the sons of men.
- Deuteronomy 9:14
Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”
- Proverbs 10:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 6; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.