Ecclesiastes 6:2

A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. HE WANTETH NOTHING FOR HIS SOUL - i:e., for his enjoyment. YET GOD GIVETH HIM NOT POWER TO EAT - through the avarice which enthrals him. This distinguishes him from the "rich" man in . "God hath given" distinguishes him also from the man who got his wealth by "oppression" (). BUT A STRANGER EATETH IT - those not akin, nay, even hostile to him (). He seems to have it in his "power" to do as he will with his wealth, but an...

1-6 A man often has all he needs for outward enjoyment; yet the Lord leaves him so to covetousness or evil dispositions, that he makes no good or comfortable use of what he has. By one means or other his possessions come to strangers; this is vanity, and an evil disease. A numerous family was a matter of fond desire and of high honour among the Hebrews; and long life is the desire of mankind in general. Even with these additions a man may not be able to enjoy his riches, family, and life. Such a man, in his passage through life, seems to have been born for no end or use. And he who has entered on life only for one moment, to quit it the next, has a preferable lot to him who has lived long, but only to suffer....

Verse Ecclesiastes 6:2. _A MAN TO WHOM GOD HATH GIVEN RICHES_] A man may possess much earthly goods, and yet enjoy nothing of them. Possession and fruition are not necessarily joined together; and this is also among the _vanities_ of life. It is worthy of remark, that it belongs to God as much to give the power to enjoy as it does to give the earthly blessings. A wise heathen saw this: - Di tibi divitias dederant, artemque fruendi. HOR. Ep. lib. i., ep. 4, ver. 7. "The gods had given thee riches, and the art to enjoy them....

EXPOSITION ECCLESIASTES 6:1 Section 9. Koheleth proceeds to illustrate the fact which he stated at the end of the last chapter, viz. that the possession and enjoyment of wealth are alike the free gift of God. We may see men possessed of all the gifts of fortune, yet denied the faculty of enjoying them. Hence we again conclude that _wealth cannot secure happiness_. ECCLESIASTES 6:1 THERE IS AN EVIL WHICH I HAVE SEEN UNDER THE SUN. The writer presents his personal experience, that which has fallen under his own observation (comp. Ecclesiastes 5:13;...

A MAN TO WHOM GOD HATH GIVEN RICHES, WEALTH, AND HONOUR,.... By "riches" may be meant gold and silver, things which a covetous man is never satisfied with; and by "wealth", cattle, with which farms and fields are stocked: the wealth of men, especially in former times, and in the eastern countries, lay very much in these, as did the wealth of Abraham and Job, Genesis 13:2; and all these, as they are reckoned glorious and honourable in themselves; so they create honour and glory among men, and raise to high and honourable places; and these, as they go, they are usually put together, and are called by the name of honour and glory itself; see Proverbs 3:16. And they are all the gifts of God, which he either as blessings bestows upon men, or suffers men to attain unto, though a curse may go along with them; which

CHAPTER 6 DISHEARTENING CONTRADICTIONS _ 1. Riches--Inability to enjoy them (Ecclesiastes 6:1)_ 2. Having All--Yet no fill of the soul (Ecclesiastes 6:3) 3. The sad ending wail (Ecclesiastes 6:10) Ecclesiastes 6:1. The first evil the wise searcher sees as a discouraging contradiction is, that God giveth a man riches, wealth, and honor so that he does not lack in anything whatever. But God does not give him the power to enjoy it, a stranger instead eats thereof. This makes impossible what he stated in the closing verses of the preceding chapter. The cherished desires of man

ECCLESIASTES 6. FURTHER REFLECTIONS ON WEALTH AND FATE. Parallel with the bitter experience of the avaricious man who loses his wealth is that of the rich and successful man whose cherished desires are unfulfilled. Having no keen satisfaction himself he yet hopes to see his son enjoy his acquisitions, but he is childless, or if he has the blessings of a large family (a hundred is just a round number) and a long life both highly prized by the Jews the children may disappoint him by their conduct and so fill his soul with sorrow instead of satisfying it with good, and he may even yet undergo the supreme dishonour of lacking interment. _Cf._ Jezebel (2 Kings 9:35) and Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 22:19), and many other references both in biblical and classical literature, especially the Greek legend of Antigone

GOD. Hebrew. _Elohim._ (with Art.). the [true] God, or the Deity. App-4. See note on Ecclesiastes 1:13. WEALTH. See note on Ecclesiastes 5:19. HIS SOUL. himself. Hebrew. _nephesh._ VANITY. See note on Ecclesiastes 1:2....

A MAN TO WHOM GOD HATH GIVEN, &C.— From the 18th verse of the foregoing chapter to the present, we have the 2nd proof of the 2nd proposition, which is taken from the insufficiency of riches to give a man any real satisfaction, even though the actual possession of them should never be taken from him. It was observed before, (ch. Ecclesiastes 3:12; Ecclesiastes 3:22.) that the only advantage to be had from earthly acquisitions is present enjoyment. But it was remarked likewise, that this is the gift of God, and is not in any man's power, except it be given him from above. Now Solomon adds a further observation, which had been already hinted at, chap. Ecclesiastes 2:24 but not fully explained

2. It is possible to possess riches which cannot be enjoyed. Ecclesiastes 6:1-6 TEXT 6:1-6 1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men 2 a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires, but God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a sore affliction. 3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things, and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, Better the miscarriage than he, 4 for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. 5 It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he. 6 Even if the other man lives a thou