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Ecclesiastes 5:10

in Ecclesiastes 5

He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.

KJV

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

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This verse in Ecclesiastes 5

Commentary

10 notes on this verse
When they are intent on increasing money, let them hear what is written: "The covetous man is not filled with money, and he that loves riches shall not reap fruit thereof." For indeed he would reap fruit of them, were he minded, not loving them, to disperse them well. But whoever in his affection for them retains them shall surely leave them behind here without fruit. When they burn to be filled at once with all manner of wealth, let them hear what is written: "He that makes haste to be rich shall not be innocent."

This site's exposition

He who loves money is never satisfied by money

on Ecclesiastes 5:10-12

Three observations state wealth's diminishing returns. He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and When good things increase, so do those who consume them. The worker's sweet sleep stands against the rich man's sleeplessness, for the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

A commentator

Evagrius Ponticus

SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 38:5.7-11 · Written before 399.

proposed

If, he says, you see among people those on the one hand who are oppressed and those on the other who do wrong in judgment, and still others who practice justice, do not be amazed that this occurs as if there were no divine foresight. …

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ecclesiastes · Written before 420.

proposed

"A lover of money will never be satisfied with money; a lover of abundance has no wheat. This too, is futility! As goods increase, so do those who consume them; what advantage, then, has the owner except what hi eyes see?" Wherever we read 'silver', according to the ambiguity of the Greek term, it can be translated as 'money', since each has the meaning of the Greek "argurion.

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Bonaventure

Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

"The covetous man shall not be filled with money." Above he set forth the remedy against the vanity of malice; here he adds secondly the remedy against the vanity of avarice. Now the remedy against avarice is contempt of earthly goods; therefore here he urges …

A commentator

Bonaventure

Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Prooemium · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

The world with its things is vain, because it does not provide fullness to the one who possesses it: whence it is said in Ecclesiastes 5: The covetous man shall not be satisfied with money. And the reason for this is that all worldly things …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

5 ), lays house to house and field to field ( Isa. v. 8 ), and, like the daughters of the horse-leech, still cries, Give, give. Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable. Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.

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3 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver - The more he gets, the more he would get; for the saying is true: - Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit. “The love of money increases, in proportion as money itself increases.”

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Not only will God punish at last, but meanwhile the oppressive gainers of "silver" find no solid "satisfaction" in it. shall not be satisfied--so the oppressor "eateth his own flesh" (see on Ec 4:1 and Ec 4:5). with increase--is not satisfied with the gain that he makes.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

As goods increase. When the [Bnei] Yisroel improve their deeds.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ecclesiastes 5:10:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
When good is multiplied in the world, the children of men who eat it are also multiplied; and what advantage is there to the owner who gathers it unless he does good with it, that he may see in the world to come the reward given with his eyes.
Targum · Aramaic Targum to Ecclesiastes 5:10, via Sefaria, Coheleth, trans. by C.D.Ginsburg, London 1861
Sweet is the sleep of the laborer. One who tills the soil sleeps, and he enjoys his sleep, whether he eats little or a lot, for he is already used to it.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ecclesiastes 5:11:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001

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

13 Hebrew words

Every 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.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Timothy 6:10For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.25 worksMatthew 6:24No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.19 worksLuke 12:15And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”16 worksMatthew 6:19Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.14 worksEcclesiastes 1:2“Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”12 worksEcclesiastes 4:8There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.10 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Ecclesiastes 4:4I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.9 worksEcclesiastes 2:26To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.8 worksPsalms 62:10Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.8 worksPsalms 52:7“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”7 worksHabakkuk 2:5–7and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.6 worksEcclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.5 worksEcclesiastes 6:7All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.5 worksEzekiel 7:19They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs with wealth, for it became the stumbling block that brought their iniquity.5 worksEcclesiastes 3:19For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.4 worksEcclesiastes 4:16There is no limit to all the people who were before them. Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.4 worksProverbs 30:15–16The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:4 worksEcclesiastes 1:17So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Matthew 6:24

    No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…

    it leads to

    • 1 John 2:15–16

      Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 16:13

      No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and…

    • James 4:4

      You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.

    • 1 Timothy 6:9–10

      Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

    • Joshua 24:15

      But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…

  • Through

    Matthew 6:19

    Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 13:5

      Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 12:21

      This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

  • Through

    Luke 12:15

    And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

    it leads to

Where this verse is studied

About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
King Solomon in Old Age, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read Ecclesiastes 5 →
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Prooemium; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 38:5.7-11; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 20; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Ecclesiastes 5 →