Eclesiastés 5:12

12 Dulce es el sueño del trabajador, coma mucho o coma poco; mas al rico no lo deja dormir la abundancia

Eclesiastés 5:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 5:12

The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet, whether he eat
little or much
Or "of a servant" ^F9, who enjoys sleep equally as a king; a tiller of the ground, as Jarchi; who also interprets it of one that serves the Lord, as likewise the Targum; a beloved one of his, to whom he gives sleep, ( Psalms 127:2 ) . A refreshing sleep is always reckoned a great mercy and blessing, and which labouring men enjoy with sweetness ^F11; for if they have but little to eat at supper, yet coming weary from their work, sleep is easily brought on when they lie down, and sound sleep they have, and rise in the morning lively and active, and fit for business; or, if they eat more plentifully, yet through their labour they have a good digestion, and their sleep is not hindered: so that should it be answered to the above question, what has the master more than the servant, though he eats and drinks more freely, and of the best, and lives voluptuously? yet it may be replied, that, in the business of sleep, the labouring man has the preference to him; which must be owned to be a great blessing of life, and is often interrupted by excessive eating and drinking; but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep;
either the abundance of food which he eats, which loads his stomach, and fills his head with vapours, and makes him restless, so that he can get no sleep, or what he does get is very uncomfortable: or the abundance of his riches fills him with cares, what he shall do with them, and how to keep and increase them; and with fears, lest thieves should break in and take them away from him, so that he cannot sleep quietly ^F12. The Targum is,

``sweet is the sleep of a man that serves the Lord of the world with a perfect heart; and he shall have rest in the house of his grave, whether he lives a few years or more, &c;''

and much to the same purpose Jarchi; and who says, it is thus interpreted in an ancient book of theirs, called Tanchuma.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 (dbeh) (tou doulou) , Sept. "servi", Arab. "i.e. agricolae", Drusius, Rambachius; "qui par regi famuloque venis", Senec. Hercul. Fur. v. 1073.
F11 "Somnus agrestium lenis" Horat. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 1. v. 21, 22.
F12 "Ne noctu, nec diu quietus unquam eam", Plauti Aulularia, Act. 1. Sc. 1. v. 23. "Aurea rumpunt tecta quietem", Senec. Hercul. Oet. v. 646.

Eclesiastés 5:12 In-Context

10 El que ama el dinero, no se saciará de dinero; y el que ama el mucho tener, no sacará fruto. También esto es vanidad

11 Cuando los bienes se aumentan, también se aumentan los que los comen. ¿Qué bien, pues, tendrá su dueño, sino verlos con sus ojos

12 Dulce es el sueño del trabajador, coma mucho o coma poco; mas al rico no lo deja dormir la abundancia

13 Hay otra enfermedad maligna que he visto debajo del sol: las riquezas guardadas por sus dueños para su mal

14 las cuales se pierden en malas ocupaciones, y a los hijos que engendraron nada les queda en la mano