Ecclesiastes 6

THere is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

A man to whom God has given riches and wealth All sorts of Riches, as Gold and Silver, Cattle and Lands, &c., and honour so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth Which he does, or can reasonably desire., yet God giveth him not power to eat Either because they are suddenly taken away from him by the Hand and Curse of God, and given to others: or because God gives him up to a base and covetous mind, which is both a s... n and a plague. thereof i. e. Any considerable part of it, whereas the Stranger eateth not thereof, but it. i. e. all of it, devoureth it all in an instant., but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

If a man beget an hundred Children i. e. Very many Children, to whom he intends to leave his Estate., and live many years Which is the chief thing that he desires, and which giveth him opportunity of increasing his Estate vastly., so that the days He says days, because the Years of mens life are but few. of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good Has not a contented mind and comfortable enjoyment of his Estate whilst he lives., and also that he have no burial And if after his Death he has either none, or a mean and dishonourable Burial, because his... ordid and covetous carriage made him hateful and contemptible to all Persons, his Children and Heirs not excepted, and he was by all sorts of men thought unworthy of any testimonies of Honour, either in his Life or after his Death. Thus he describes a Man who lives miserably, and dies ignominiously., I say, that an untimely birth Which as it never enjoyed the comforts, so it never felt the calamities of this life, which are far more considerable than its comforts, at least to a Man that denied himself the comforts, and plunged himself into the toils and vexations of this life. is better than he.

For Or rather, Although, as this Particle is frequently rendred. For... is Verse seems to contain not so much a reason of what he las... that an untimely Birth is better than he, as an answer to an excep... which might be made against it, Although all that is here said be true of the Abortive, yet it is better than he. he Either 1. the covetous Man. Or rather 2. the Abortive; of whom alone, and not of the former, that passage is true, He has not seen the Sun, v. 5 cometh in Into the World, this word being oft put for a Man's being Born, as Iob 1. 21. Eccles. 5. 15. with vanity Or, in vain, to no purpose; without any comfort or benefit by it, which also is in a great measure the case of the covetous wretch., and departeth in darkness Dieth obscurely without any Observation or regard of men., and his name shall be covered with darkness Shall be speedily and utterly forgotten, whereas the Name of such wicked men shall rot, and be remembred to their shame..

Moreover, he has not seen the sun He never beheld the light, and therefore it is not grievous to him to want it, whereas the covetous Man saw that light was very pleasant, and therefore the loss of it was irksom to him., nor known any thing Has had no knowledge, sense or experience of any thing whether good or evil.: this has more rest Because he is perfectly free from all those incumbrances and vexations to which the covetous Man is long exposed. than the other.

Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told Wherein he seems to have a priviledge above an untimely Birth., yet has he seen no good He has enjoyed little or no comfort in it, and therefore long life is rather a curse and mischief, than a blessing or advantage to him.: do not all Whether Born out of and before their time, or in due time, whether their lives be long or short. go to one place To the Grave. And so after a little time all are alike as to this life, of which he here speaks, and as to the other life his condition is infinitely worse than that of an untimely birth.?

All the labour of man is for his mouth For Meat to put into his Mouth, that he may get food; and a Bread is oft put for all food, so food is put for all necessary Provisions for this life, as Prov. 30. 8. and elsewhere, whereof this is the chief, for which a Man will sell his House and Lands, yea the very Garments upon his back., and yet the appetite is not filled Although all that a Man can get by his labours is but necessary f... od, which the meanest sort of men commonly enjoy, as is observed in the next Verse, yet such is the vanity of this World and the folly of Mankind, that men are insatiable in their desires, and restless in their endeavours, after more and more, and never say, they have enough..

For what has the wise more than the fool To wit, in these matters. Both are equally subject to the same calamities, and partakers of the same comforts of this Life.? what has the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living To wit, before the poor that does not know this? Which words are easily understood by comparing this clause with the former. And such defects are usual both in Scripture and other Authors, as has been formerly noted, by a Figure which the Learned call Anantapodoton. And by this Phrase, that knoweth, &c. he means such a poor Man who is ingenious and industrious, who is fit for service and business, and knows how to carry himself towards rich men, so as to deserve and gain their favour, and to procure a livelihood.?

Better is the sight of the eyes i. e. The comfortable enjoyment of what a man has: for seeing is oft put for enjoying, as Psal. 34. 12. Eccles. 2. 1. & 3. 13. &c. than the wandring of the desire Restless and insatiable Desires of what a man has not, wherewith covetous rich men are perpetually haunted and tormented.: This This wandring of the desire wherein most men indulge themselves. is also vanity, and vexation of Spirit Is not the way to satisfaction, as they imagine, but to vexation..

That which has been is named already This verse is added either as a proof of what he last said concerning the vanity and wandring of unsatiable desires; or as a further instance of the vanity of all things in this Life. That which has been (or is, for the Hebrew verb may be rendred either way, to wit, Man, considered with all his endowments and enjoyments, whether he be wise or foolish, rich or poor, Man, who is the chief of all visible and sublunary beings, for whom they were all made) is named already, to wit, by God, who presently after his Creation, gave him the following name, to signifie what his nature and condition was or would be. Heb. What is that which has been, or is, it is or has been named already. Others understand it thus, All the several conditions which men have had or shall have in the World, Riches or Poverty, &c. are already named, i. e. appointed or determined by Gods unchangeable Counsel, and invincible Providence: But though this be true, it seems not to suit so well with the following clause, as the other Interpretation does., and it is known that it is man This is certain and manifest, that that being, which makes all this noise and stir in the world, howsoever magnified by themselves, and somtimes adored by Flatterers, and howsoever differenced from, or advanced above others, by Wisdom or Riches, or the like, is but a Man, i. e. a mean, earthly mortal and miserable Creature, as his very name signifies, which God gave him for this very end, that he might be always sensible of his vain, and base, and miserable estate in this world, and therefore never expect satisfaction or happiness in it.: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he i. e. With Almighty God, with whom Men are very apt to contend upon every sleight occasion, and against whom they are ready to murmur for this Vanity, and Mortality, and Misery of Mankind, although they brought it upon themselves by their own sins. So this is seasonably added to prevent the abuse of the foregoing passage..

Seeing there be many things that increase vanity This seems to be added as a Conclusion of the Disputation managed in all the foregoing Chapters, seeing not only Man is a vain Creature in himself, as has been now said, but there are also many other things in the world, which instead of removing or diminishing, as might be expected, do but increase this vanity, as Wisdom, Pleasure, Power, Wealth, and the like, the vanity of all which has been fully and particularly declared. Seeing even the good things of this Life bring so much Toil, and Cares, and Fears, &c. with them,, what is man the better To wit, by all that he can either desire or enjoy here. Hence it is evident, that all these things cannot make him happy, but that he must seek for happiness elsewhere.?

For who knoweth what is good for man No man certainly knows what is best for him here, whether to be high or low, rich or poor, because those great things which men generally desire and pursue, are very frequently the occasions of Mens utter Ruine, as has been noted again and again in this Book. in this life, all the days of his vain life Life itself, which is the foundation of all mens Comforts and Enjoyments here, is a vain, and uncertain, and transitory thing, and therefore all things which depend upon it must needs be so too. which he spendeth as a shadow Which, whilest it abides, has nothing real, and solid, or substantial in it, and does speedily pass away, and leaves no sign behind it.? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun And as no man can be happy with these things whilest he liveth and enjoyeth them, so he can have no content in leaving them to others, because he knoweth not either who shall possess them, or how the future owners will use or abuse them, or what mischief they may do by them either to others, or even to themselves.?