Ecclesiastes 5:17
in Ecclesiastes 5Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he is sore vexed, and hath sickness and wrath.
KJV
All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 5
Commentary
11 notes on this verseAll his days also he eateth in darkness - Even his enjoyments are embittered by uncertainty. He fears for his goods; the possibility of being deprived of them fills his heart with anguish. But instead of יאכל yochel, “he shall eat,” ילך yelech, “he shall walk,” is the reading of several MSS. He walks in darkness - he has no evidence of salvation. There is no ray of light from God to penetrate the gloom; and all beyond life is darkness impenetrable!
This site's exposition
This too is a grievous evil
on Ecclesiastes 5:16-17
The case closes on a second evil, Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart, and the Teacher asks What does he gain. The loss runs through the whole life, for all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
This site's exposition
he eats in darkness
Gill reads eating as the man's whole manner of life. Wesley finds anxiety at every meal and anger in the sickness that cuts off his plans. Clarke notes several manuscripts that read walks in place of eats, a man walking in darkness with no light from God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"So what I have seen to be good is that it is suitable to eat and drink and enjoy pleasure with all one's labour that he toils beneath the sun during the brief span of his life that God has given him, for that is his lot. Furthermore, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions and has given him the power to enjoy them, possess his share and be happy in his work: this is the gift of God.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
And he adds the magnitude of the toil: "All the days of his life he eats in darkness," on account of loneliness; "and in many cares," on account of anxiety; "and in distress," on account of the scantiness of expenditures; "and sadness," on account of …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And therefore he recommends to us the comfortable use of that which God has given us, with an eye to him that is the giver, as the best way both to answer the end of our having it and to obviate the mischiefs that commonly attend great estates,
He eateth - He hath no comfort in his estate, but even when he eats, he doth it with anxiety and discontent. And wrath - When he falls sick, and presages his death, he is filled with rage, because he is cut off before he hath accomplished his designs, and because he must leave that wealth and world in which all his hopes and happiness lie.
All his days also he eateth in darkness,.... To all that has been said is added another evil, that attends such whose hearts are inordinately set on riches; that all their days, throughout the whole of their lives, they live a most uncomfortable life; for eating is here put for their whole manner of living: such not only eat coarse bread, and very mean food of any sort, but wear sordid apparel, and live in a poor cottage, in a very obscure and miserable manner.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
This is our part of our worldly possession. God must have his part, the poor theirs, and our families theirs, but this is ours; it is all that falls to our lot out of them. (3.) That a heart to do thus is such a gift of God's grace as crowns all the gifts of his providence.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
eateth--appropriately put for "liveth" in general, as connected with Ec 5:11, 12, 18. darkness--opposed to "light (joy) of countenance" (Ec 8:1; Pr 16:15). wrath--fretfulness, literally, "His sorrow is much, and his infirmity (of body) and wrath."
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
Hath much sorrow ... - Rather, is very sad and hath pain and vexation.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּ֥ם | gam | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יָמָ֖יו | yamav | days his | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ | bachoshekh | in <the> darkness | H2822 → | 80 times |
| יֹאכֵ֑ל | yokhel | he eats | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְכָעַ֥ס | vekhaas | and he is vexed | H3707 → | |
| הַרְבֵּ֖ה | harbeh | greatly | H7235 → | 227 times |
| וְחָלְי֥וֹ | vechalyo | and sickness his | H2483 → | |
| וָקָֽצֶף׃ | vakatzef | and anger | H7110 → |
גַּ֥םalso
gamH1571 →769 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יָמָ֖יוdays his
yamavH3117 →2304 times
בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְin <the> darkness
bachoshekhH2822 →80 times
יֹאכֵ֑לhe eats
yokhelH398 →810 times
וְכָעַ֥סand he is vexed
vekhaasH3707 →
הַרְבֵּ֖הgreatly
harbehH7235 →227 times
וְחָלְי֥וֹand sickness his
vechalyoH2483 →
וָקָֽצֶף׃and anger
vakatzefH7110 →
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
Psalms 127:2In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat— for He gives sleep to His beloved.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 5:12
The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
- Psalms 4:8
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
- Job 11:18
You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety.
- Psalms 3:5
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
- Ecclesiastes 2:20–23
So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 5:12
Through
2 Kings 1:2Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 1:16
And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to…
- Matthew 10:25
It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his…
- 2 Kings 8:7–10
Then Elisha came to Damascus while Ben-hadad king of Aram was sick, and the king was told, “The man of God has come here.”
- 2 Kings 1:16
Where this verse is studied
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 5; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of 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.