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Ecclesiastes 5:15

in Ecclesiastes 5

As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

As he came forth from his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

KJV

As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

This verse in Ecclesiastes 5

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

But sad is our case if the soul return as it came, for we were born in sin, and if we die in sin, unsanctified, we had better never have been born; and that seems to be the case of the worldling here spoken of, for he is said to return in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so.

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

naked as he arrived

Wesley and Bonaventure place the return in the earth, the mother of every man. His labor stays behind with his wealth, and Clarke says a rich man's millions are dead to him forever. Henry warns of a soul departing as sinful as it came.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Ecclesiastes · Written before 420.

proposed

"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

Bonaventure

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

proposed

And thus riches that are preserved are not left to the heir, nor can they be carried away by the possessor: whence he adds: "As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return," not into the womb, but into the earth. …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

To go - Into the womb of the earth, the common mother of all mankind. Take nothing - This is another vanity. If his estate be neither lost, nor kept to his hurt, yet when he dies he must leave it behind him, and cannot carry one handful of it into another world.
As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

As he came forth - However it may be, he himself shall carry nothing with him into the eternal world. If he die worth millions, those millions are dead to him for ever; so he has had no real profit from all his labors, cares, anxieties, and vast property!

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

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.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Ecclesiastes 5:14:1, 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

14 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.

  • כַּאֲשֶׁ֤רjust as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • יָצָא֙he came out

    yatza'H3318 →1067 times

  • מִבֶּ֣טֶןfrom [the] womb of

    mibetenH990 →

  • אִמּ֔וֹmother his

    ʾimoH517 →

  • עָר֛וֹםnaked

    aromH6174 →

  • יָשׁ֥וּבhe will return

    yashuvH7725 →1056 times

  • לָלֶ֖כֶתto go

    lalekhetH1980 →1546 times

  • כְּשֶׁבָּ֑אwhen he came

    kesheba'H935 →2568 times

  • וּמְא֙וּמָה֙and anything

    umeumahH3972 →32 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • יִשָּׂ֣אhe will carry

    yisa'H5375 →

  • בַעֲמָל֔וֹin toil his

    vaamaloH5999 →55 times

  • שֶׁיֹּלֵ֖ךְthat he may take

    sheiyolekhH1980 →1546 times

  • בְּיָדֽוֹ׃in hand his

    beyadoH3027 →1618 times

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

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

    Job 1:21

    saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Timothy 6:7

      For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.

      Reached by 3 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:18

      Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

    • James 1:17

      Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

  • Through

    1 Timothy 6:7

    For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.

    it leads to

    • Job 1:21

      saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 49:17

      For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Luke 12:20–21

      But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

    • Ecclesiastes 5:15–16

      As a man came from his mother’s womb, so he will depart again, naked as he arrived. He takes nothing for his labor to carry in his hands.

  • Through

    Luke 12:20

    But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’

    it leads to

    • Job 27:8

      For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

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.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.