Ecclesiastes 5:14
in Ecclesiastes 5or wealth lost in a failed venture, so when that man has a son there is nothing to pass on.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.
KJV
But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"These, I say, perish in the worst affliction," because it is necessary that he relinquish them with sorrow: Job twenty-seven: "The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take nothing with him." Nor are they only left behind by their owner, but they are also …
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.
This site's exposition
wealth lost in a failed venture
Barnes reads the failed venture as an adverse accident or a business gone wrong. The lost wealth leaves the son nothing. Henry pictures a father who raised his son to expect an estate and left it so burdened by debt that nothing could pass to him.
The record, by era
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 Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He that thought he should have made his son a gentleman leaves him a beggar; he begets a son, and brings him up in the prospect of an estate, but, when he dies, leaves it under a charge of debt as much as it is worth, so that there is nothing in his hand. This is a common case; estates that made a great show do not prove what they seemed, but cheat the heir.
But those riches perish by evil travail,.... Or, "by an evil business or affair" (n).
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand - He has been stripped of his property by unfortunate trade or by plunderers; and he has nothing to leave to his children.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Evil travail - Adverse accident, or unsuccessful employment (compare Ecc 1:13; Ecc 4:8).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
He will have nothing in his hand. Not even the merit of his ancestors.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאָבַ֛ד | veavad | and it was lost | H6 → | 184 times |
| הָעֹ֥שֶׁר | haosher | the wealth | H6239 → | 37 times |
| הַה֖וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| בְּעִנְיַ֣ן | beinyan | in a business of | H6045 → | 8 times |
| רָ֑ע | ra' | evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וְהוֹלִ֣יד | veholid | and he fathered | H3205 → | 496 times |
| בֵּ֔ן | ben | a son | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and not | H369 → | 789 times |
| בְּיָד֖וֹ | beyado | [was] in hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מְאֽוּמָה׃ | meumah | anything | H3972 → | 32 times |
וְאָבַ֛דand it was lost
veavadH6 →184 times
הָעֹ֥שֶׁרthe wealth
haosherH6239 →37 times
הַה֖וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
בְּעִנְיַ֣ןin a business of
beinyanH6045 →8 times
רָ֑עevil
ra'H7451 →662 times
וְהוֹלִ֣ידand he fathered
veholidH3205 →496 times
בֵּ֔ןa son
benH1121 →4930 times
וְאֵ֥יןand not
veeinH369 →789 times
בְּיָד֖וֹ[was] in hand his
beyadoH3027 →1618 times
מְאֽוּמָה׃anything
meumahH3972 →32 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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
Ecclesiastes 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…
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
- Job 27:16–17
Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Proverbs 28:8
He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
- Isaiah 3:10–11
Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- John 16:24
Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
- Proverbs 13:22
Through
Proverbs 23:5When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
it leads to
- Proverbs 27:24
for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.
- 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Proverbs 27:24
Through
Job 5:5The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:16
All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see…
- Lamentations 2:16
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
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 5; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.