Ecclesiastes 6:1

1 I looked long and hard at what goes on around here, and let me tell you, things are bad. And people feel it.

Ecclesiastes 6:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 6:1

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun
The Vulgate Latin version reads it, another evil; but wrongly, for the same is considered as before, the evil of covetousness; which is one of the evil things that come out of the heart of man; is abominable to the Lord, contrary to his nature and will, and a breach of his law, which forbids it, and is the root of all evil; this is an evil under the sun, for there is nothing of this kind above it; and it fell under the observation of Solomon in various instances; and it [is] common among men;
or, "great over men" F21; or "over the man", the covetous man: it spreads itself over them; few were free from it, even so long ago, in those early times, and in such times in which silver was made no account of, and was like stones in Jerusalem, as common as they; and yet the sin of covetousness, of hoarding up money and making no use of it, for a man's own good, and the good of others, was very rife among men, ( 1 Kings 10:27 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F21 (Mdah le ayh hbrw) "et multum ipsum super hominem", Montanus; "et magaum est illud super hominem istum", Rambachius.

Ecclesiastes 6:1 In-Context

1 I looked long and hard at what goes on around here, and let me tell you, things are bad. And people feel it.
2 There are people, for instance, on whom God showers everything - money, property, reputation - all they ever wanted or dreamed of. And then God doesn't let them enjoy it. Some stranger comes along and has all the fun. It's more of what I'm calling smoke. A bad business.
3 Say a couple have scores of children and live a long, long life but never enjoy themselves - even though they end up with a big funeral! I'd say that a stillborn baby gets the better deal.
4 It gets its start in a mist and ends up in the dark - unnamed.
5 It sees nothing and knows nothing, but is better off by far than anyone living.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.