Ecclesiastes 6:3
in Ecclesiastes 6A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:
KJV
If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 6
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
In the East to be without burial is the greatest degradation. "Better the fruit that drops from the tree before it is ripe than that left to hang on till rotten" [HENRY].
This site's exposition
A man may father a hundred children
on Ecclesiastes 6:3-6
The case grows harsher: a man may father a hundred children, yet if he is unsatisfied and unburied, a stillborn child is better than he. The stillborn enters in futility and departs in darkness, yet has more rest than that man, though he lived a thousand years twice over.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"There is an evil I have observed beneath the sun, and it is prevalent among mankind; a man to whom God has given riches, wealth and honour, and he lacks nothing that his heart could desire, yet God did not give him the power to enjoy it. This is futility and an evil disease. If a man begets an hundred children and lives many years - great being the days of his life - and his soul is not content with the good - and he even is deprived of burial; I say: the stillborn is better off than he.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 6 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
"If anyone should beget" etc. Here is noted the detestation of miserliness by reason of the aforementioned transfer, and he reproves miserliness itself, however much successive prosperity he may have. Therefore he adds: "If anyone should beget a hundred children," this is said hyperbolically, that …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The soul is not filled, so the word is. When God gave Israel their request he sent leanness into their souls, Ps. cvi. He was a fool who, when his barns were full, said, Soul, take thine ease.
With good - He hath not a contented mind and comfortable enjoyment of his estate. Is better - Which as it never enjoyed the comforts, so it never felt the calamities of life.
If a man beget an hundred children,.... Sons and daughters, a certain number for an uncertain.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He describes his folly in not taking the comfort of it; he has no power to eat of it, lets strangers devour it, is never filled with good, and at last has no burial,
He is still unsatisfied and uneasy. His hands are filled with riches, his barns filled, and his bags filled, but his soul is not filled with good, no, not with that good, for it is still craving more.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
If a man beget a hundred children - If he have the most numerous family and the largest possessions, and is so much attached to his riches that he grudges himself a monument; an abortion in the eye of reason is to be preferred to such a man; himself is contemptible, and his life worthless. The abortion comes in with vanity - baulks expectation, departs in darkness - never opened its eyes upon the light, and its name is covered with darkness - it has no place in the family register, or in the chronicles of Israel. This, that hath neither seen the sun, nor known any thing is preferable to the miser who has his coffers and granaries well furnished, should he have lived a thousand years, and had a hundred children. He has seen - possessed, no good; and he and the abortion go to one place, equally unknown, and wholly forgotten.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
No burial - For a corpse to lie unburied was a circumstance in itself of special ignominy and dishonor (compare the marginal references).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
If a man begets a hundred [children]. Children. 4 “A hundred” is figuratively speaking, it is an expression used to denote “many.” (Ibn Ezra)
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Wealth [and] possessions. Its simple explanation, is its apparent meaning.
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
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יוֹלִ֣יד | yolid | he will father | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מֵאָ֡ה | meah | one hundred [children] | H3967 → | |
| וְשָׁנִים֩ | veshanim | and years | H8141 → | 877 times |
| רַבּ֨וֹת | rabot | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| יִֽחְיֶ֜ה | yichyeh | he will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| וְרַ֣ב׀ | verav | and [will be] many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| שֶׁיִּהְי֣וּ | sheiyihyu | [that] which <they> will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| יְמֵֽי־ | yemei- | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שָׁנָ֗יו | shanav | years his | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וְנַפְשׁוֹ֙ | venafsho | and self his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׂבַּ֣ע | tisba' | it will be satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַטּוֹבָ֔ה | hatovah | the good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| קְבוּרָ֖ה | kevurah | burial | H6900 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הָ֣יְתָה | hayetah | it belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לּ֑וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| אָמַ֕רְתִּי | ʾamarti | I say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ט֥וֹב | tov | [is] good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| מִמֶּ֖נּוּ | mimenu | more than him | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַנָּֽפֶל׃ | hanafel | the miscarriage | H5309 → |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יוֹלִ֣ידhe will father
yolidH3205 →496 times
אִ֣ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מֵאָ֡הone hundred [children]
meahH3967 →
וְשָׁנִים֩and years
veshanimH8141 →877 times
רַבּ֨וֹתmany
rabotH7227 →454 times
יִֽחְיֶ֜הhe will live
yichyehH2421 →282 times
וְרַ֣ב׀and [will be] many
veravH7227 →454 times
שֶׁיִּהְי֣וּ[that] which <they> will be
sheiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
יְמֵֽי־[the] days of
yemei-H3117 →2304 times
שָׁנָ֗יוyears his
shanavH8141 →877 times
וְנַפְשׁוֹ֙and self his
venafshoH5315 →754 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׂבַּ֣עit will be satisfied
tisba'H7646 →97 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַטּוֹבָ֔הthe good
hatovahH2896 →538 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
קְבוּרָ֖הburial
kevurahH6900 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הָ֣יְתָהit belonged
hayetahH1961 →3559 times
לּ֑וֹto <the> him
lo
אָמַ֕רְתִּיI say
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
ט֥וֹב[is] good
tovH2896 →538 times
מִמֶּ֖נּוּmore than him
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
הַנָּֽפֶל׃the miscarriage
hanafelH5309 →
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
Jeremiah 22:19He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 36:30
Therefore this is what the LORD says about Jehoiakim king of Judah: He will have no one to sit on David’s throne, and his body will be thrown out and exposed to heat by…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 21:23–24
And the LORD also speaks concerning Jezebel: ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’
- Jeremiah 36:30
Through
Job 3:16Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
it leads to
- Psalms 58:8
Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
- 1 Corinthians 15:8
And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth.
- Psalms 58:8
Through
Ecclesiastes 4:3But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
it leads to
- Luke 23:29
Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’
- Ecclesiastes 6:3–5
A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial,…
- Matthew 24:19
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!
- Job 10:18–19
Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!
- Luke 23:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 6; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and 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.