Ecclesiastes 5:13
in Ecclesiastes 5There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:
KJV
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 5
Commentary
12 notes on this verseEcclesiastes sees that riches are kept for ill by one who possesses them, for their loss causes a very great anxiety and disquiet. Indeed they are lost, for they are left here and can be of no advantage to one who is dead.
This site's exposition
There is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun
on Ecclesiastes 5:13-15
The Teacher files a grievous evil: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, then lost in a failed venture, so the son inherits nothing. Verse 15 echoes Job 1:21, As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
An abundance of evil can be revealed in wealth. But this type of evil should be viewed as more of a weakness. Therefore, everyone who guards his wealth for himself does not know the wisdom of God, nor is his heart inclined to insight, nor …
Of what use is wealth that belongs to someone? He is obviously lord over his wealth. The wealth somebody owns is his amenity and he himself is lord over his wealth. As he himself can use wealth well by being lord over it and not …
People use their children as an excuse for gathering riches. At times they do injustice, rob and do similar things, saying: "I'm doing this for my children." … I have seen a person who struggled to become rich, but his riches were of no use. …
The same thing happens as every one may perceive with regard to sleep. For not a soft couch, nor a bedstead overlaid with silver, nor the quietness that exists throughout the house, nor anything else of this kind, are so generally wont to make sleep sweet and pleasant, as labour and fatigue, and the need of sleep, and drowsiness when one lies down. And to this particular the experience of facts, nay, before actual experience, the assertion of the Scriptures bears witness. For Solomon, who had passed his life in luxury, when he wished to make this matter evident, said, "The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much?" Why does he add, "whether he eat little or much?" Both these things usually bring sleeplessness, viz. indigence, and excess of food; the one drying up the body, stiffening the eyelids and not suffering them to be closed; the other straitening and oppressing the breath, and inducing many pains. But at the same time so powerful a persuasive is labour, that though both these things should befall him, the servant is able to sleep. For since throughout the whole day, they are running about everywhere, ministering to their masters, being knocked about and hard pressed, and having but little time to take breath, they receive a sufficient recompense for their toils and labours in the pleasure of sleeping. And thus it hath happened through the goodness of God toward man, that these pleasures are not to be purchased with gold and silver, but with labour, with hard toil, with necessity, and every kind of discipline. Not so the rich. On the contrary, whilst lying on their beds, they are frequently without sleep through the whole night; and though they devise many schemes, they do not obtain such pleasure. […]
Wherefore Ecclesiastes says, "There is a grievous illness which I have seen under the sun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner." … If you are desirous of treasure, take the invisible and the intangible which is to be found in the heavens on high, not that which is in the deepest veins of the earth. Be poor in spirit and you will be rich, no matter what your worldly goods are. "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions," but in his virtue and in his faith. This richness will enrich you if you are rich in your relations to God.
5 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
"There is a sickening evil that I have seen under the sun; riches hoarded by their owner to his misfortune, and he loses those riches in some bad venture. If he begets a son, he has nothing in hand. As he had come from his mother's womb, naked will he return, as he had come; he can salvage nothing from his labour to take with him. This too, is a sickening evil: Exactly as he came he must depart, and what did he gain in exchange for toiling for the wind? Indeed, all his life he eats in darkness; he is greatly grieved, and has illness and anger." Take what follows as linked to what is written above: while Ecclesiastes describes wealth, even he is not able to enjoy his riches and on many occasions endangers himself on account of them. Nor to his heir does he leave what he has amassed; but even he and his son, just as they came nude, will return nude to the earth and nothing of their toil will accompany them. Surely apathy is the worst, to be tortured by thought on account of riches, and wealth will perish. And are we able to take it with us when we die, in sadness, in mourning, in indignation, in laws or to seek it in vain toil? And all this is according to the apparent simple meaning of the text. But as we are lifted higher, it seems to me that it speaks about the philosophers, or the heretics, who amass riches of doctrines into their wickedness, and nor are authors able to follow any usefulness, nor leave perpetual fruit for their followers. But even they and their disciples return to the earth and lose their riches, from him who said, "I will lose the wisdom of the wise men, and I will reprove the prudence of the careful." [I Cor. 1, 19.] Truly in fact, just as they left their mother's womb, (apparently as from a heretical church), contrary to this about which it is written: "but Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of all." [Gal. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Second, riches are to be despised because they are frequently not transmitted to posterity. "There is also another infirmity," etc. Above he showed that riches do not enrich their possessors; here he adds secondly that they are to be despised because they are frequently not …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): There is an evil, a sore evil, which Solomon himself had seen under the sun, in this lower world, this theatre of sin and woe-- riches left for the owners thereof (who have been industrious to hoard them and keep them safely) to their hurt; they would have been better without them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun,.... Or "an evil sickness" (m).
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt - This may be the case through various causes: 1. He may make an improper use of them, and lose his health by them. 2. He may join in an unfortunate partnership and lose all. 3. His riches may excite the desire of the robber; and he may spoil him of his goods, and even take away his life. 4. Or, he may leave them to his son, who turns profligate; spends the whole, and ruins both his body and soul. I have seen this again and again.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He will have nothing in his hand. Not even the merit of his ancestors.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Wealth preserved by its owner to his own detriment. Like the wealth of Korach, because of which he became haughty and descended into the grave. 20 Alternatively, a person’s wealth jeopardizes his personal safety by exposing him to robbery, kidnap, or even death. (Sforno).
He will take nothing for his labor. When he dies, he will not take with him any merit of charity that he did with his money during his lifetime.
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֵ֚שׁ | yesh | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| רָעָ֣ה | raah | [is] an evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| חוֹלָ֔ה | cholah | severe | H2470 → | |
| רָאִ֖יתִי | raiti | [which] I have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
| עֹ֛שֶׁר | ʾosher | wealth | H6239 → | 37 times |
| שָׁמ֥וּר | shamur | [was] being kept | H8104 → | 468 times |
| לִבְעָלָ֖יו | livalav | by owner<s> its | H1167 → | 84 times |
| לְרָעָתֽוֹ׃ | leraato | to harm his | H7451 → | 662 times |
יֵ֚שׁthere
yeshH3426 →140 times
רָעָ֣ה[is] an evil
raahH7451 →662 times
חוֹלָ֔הsevere
cholahH2470 →
רָאִ֖יתִי[which] I have seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
תַּ֣חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁthe sun
hashameshH8121 →134 times
עֹ֛שֶׁרwealth
ʾosherH6239 →37 times
שָׁמ֥וּר[was] being kept
shamurH8104 →468 times
לִבְעָלָ֖יוby owner<s> its
livalavH1167 →84 times
לְרָעָתֽוֹ׃to harm his
leraatoH7451 →662 times
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
Genesis 19:14So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the…
it leads to
- Numbers 16:21
“Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
- Numbers 16:26
And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- Jeremiah 51:6
Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.
- Numbers 16:45
“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.
- 2 Chronicles 30:10
And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people scorned and mocked them.
- Numbers 16:21
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Interrogation of Job and David; Ambrose of Milan, On Cain and Abel; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 155:11; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 156:15; Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 39:5.12-13; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Chrysostom, Homilies Concerning the Statues, Homily 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.