Ecclesiastes 9:6
in Ecclesiastes 9Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As well their love, as their hatred and their envy, is perished long ago; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun.
KJV
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 9
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAlso their love, and their hatred - It is evident that he speaks here of the ignorance, want of power, etc., of the dead, in reference only to this life. And though they have no more a portion under the sun, yet he does not intimate that they have none anywhere else. A man threatens to conquer kingdoms, etc. He dies; what are his threats?
This site's exposition
For the living know that they will die
on Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
The line the dead know nothing is spoken from the vantage the whole book keeps, what is visible under the sun. Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done.
This site's exposition
have already vanished
Clarke limits the verse to this life: the Preacher says nothing of a share elsewhere. Henry calls the world an annuity for life. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown add that the fruits of love and hate remain, and what a man is at death he stays forever.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing at all; there is no more reward for them, their memory is forgotten. Their love, their hate, their jealousy have already perished- nor will they ever again have a share in whatever is done beneath the sun.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
With regard to the act of affection he says: "Love also and hatred and envy have likewise perished," because they are not affected as before in life. With regard to the act of exterior operation he says: "Nor do they have a part in this …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
If a man's condition be, upon any account, bad, there is hope it will be amended. If the heart be full of evil, and madness be in it, yet while there is life there is hope that by the grace of God there may be a blessed change wrought; but after men go to the dead (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished,....
The world can only be an annuity for life, not a portion for ever. (3.) There is an end of their name. There are but few whose names survive them long; the grave is a land of forgetfulness, for the memory of those that are laid there is soon forgotten; their place knows them no more, nor the lands they called by their own names.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Man's love and hatred can no longer be exercised for good or evil in the same way as here; but the fruits of them remain. What he is at death he remains for ever. "Envy," too, marks the wicked as referred to, since it was therewith that they assailed the righteous (see on Ec 9:1). portion--Their "portion" was "in this life" (Ps 17:14), that they now "cannot have any more."
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| גַּ֣ם | gam | both | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אַהֲבָתָ֧ם | ʾahavatam | love their | H160 → | |
| גַּם־ | gam- | as well as | H1571 → | 769 times |
| שִׂנְאָתָ֛ם | sinatam | hatred their | H8135 → | |
| גַּם־ | gam- | as well as | H1571 → | 769 times |
| קִנְאָתָ֖ם | kinatam | envy their | H7068 → | |
| כְּבָ֣ר | kevar | already | H3528 → | 9 times |
| אָבָ֑דָה | ʾavadah | it has perished | H6 → | 184 times |
| וְחֵ֨לֶק | vechelek | and a portion | H2506 → | 67 times |
| אֵין־ | ʾein- | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לָהֶ֥ם | lahem | [belongs] to <the> them | ||
| עוֹד֙ | ʾod | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| לְעוֹלָ֔ם | leolam | for ever | H5769 → | 438 times |
| בְּכֹ֥ל | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶֽׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נַעֲשָׂ֖ה | naasah | it is done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
גַּ֣םboth
gamH1571 →769 times
אַהֲבָתָ֧םlove their
ʾahavatamH160 →
גַּם־as well as
gam-H1571 →769 times
שִׂנְאָתָ֛םhatred their
sinatamH8135 →
גַּם־as well as
gam-H1571 →769 times
קִנְאָתָ֖םenvy their
kinatamH7068 →
כְּבָ֣רalready
kevarH3528 →9 times
אָבָ֑דָהit has perished
ʾavadahH6 →184 times
וְחֵ֨לֶקand a portion
vechelekH2506 →67 times
אֵין־not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
לָהֶ֥ם[belongs] to <the> them
lahem
עוֹד֙again
ʾodH5750 →490 times
לְעוֹלָ֔םfor ever
leolamH5769 →438 times
בְּכֹ֥לin all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶֽׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
נַעֲשָׂ֖הit is done
naasahH6213 →2628 times
תַּ֥חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃the sun
hashameshH8121 →134 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 6:12For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him…
it leads to
- James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Ecclesiastes 3:22
I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
- Lamentations 3:24–27
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.”
- Psalms 144:4
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
- James 4:14
Through
Matthew 2:20“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”
it leads to
- Exodus 4:19
Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead.”
- Matthew 2:13
When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I…
- 1 Kings 12:1–3
Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king.
- Exodus 4:19
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.