Ecclesiastes 6:1

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

VI.

(1) Common among.—Rather, heavy upon. In this section it is remarked how even when riches remain with a man to the end of his life they may fail to bring him any real happiness.

Benson Commentary

Ecclesiastes 6:1-2. There is an evil which I have seen, &c. — A most wretched, miserable disposition reigning among mankind: A man to whom God hath given riches, &c. — When a man is blessed by God with all sorts of riches, as gold and silver, cattle and lands, &c. So that he wanteth nothing that he desireth — Which he does or can reasonably desire; yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof — Either because his riches are unexpectedly taken away from him by the hand of God, or rather, because, as a punishment of his ingratitude to God, and uncharitableness to men, or of his inattention to, and neglect of, spiritual and eternal things, God gives him up to a base and covetous mind; but a stranger eateth it — Not his children, not any relation, however distant; not a friend, nor even an acquaintance; but, it may be, an entire stranger enjoys all the good things which he has saved: this is vanity, and an evil disease — For surely what we possess we possess in vain, if we do not use it; and that temper of mind is certainly a most wretched distemper which prevents our using it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:1-6 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Common among - Rather, great (heavy) upon people.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 6

Ec 6:1-12.

1. common—or else more literally,—"great upon man," falls heavily upon man.The vanity of riches without use, Ecclesiastes 6:1,2. Of children and old age without competent wealth; their obscurity is worse than not to have been, Ecclesiastes 6:3-6. All labour is for necessaries of life, which one getteth as well as another, Ecclesiastes 6:7,8. It is good for us to enjoy what we have, and not to desire what we have not; for our portion is appointed its; and we ourselves are vain; and other things do but increase our vanity, Ecclesiastes 6:9-12.

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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" (u); 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.

(u) "et multum ipsum super hominem", Montanus; "et magaum est illud super hominem istum", Rambachius.

Geneva Study Bible

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

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun] The picture is substantially the same as that of ch. Ecclesiastes 4:7-8. The repetition is characteristic, consciously or unconsciously, of the pessimism from which the writer has not yet emancipated himself. He broods over the same thought, chews, as it were, the “cud of bitter fancies” only, “semper eandem canens cantilenam.” Here the picture is that of a man who has all outward goods in abundance, but he just lacks that capacity for enjoyment which is (as in ch. Ecclesiastes 5:20) the “gift of God,” and he dies childless and a stranger becomes the heir. We are reminded of the aged patriarch’s exclamation, “I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus” (Genesis 15:2).

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 1-6. - 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. Verse 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; Ecclesiastes 10:5). And it is common among men. Rab, Translated "common," like πολὺς ιν Greek, is used of number and of degree; hence there is some doubt about its meaning here. The Septuagint has πολλή, the Vulgate frequens. Taking into account the fact that the circumstance stated is not one of general experience, we must receive the adjective in its tropical signification, and render, And it is great [lies heavily] upon men. Comp. Ecclesiastes 8:6, where the same word is used, and the preposition עַל is rather "upon" than "among" (Isaiah 24:20). Ecclesiastes 6:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and in great weight it lies upon man: a man to whom God giveth riches, and treasures, and honour, and he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he may wish, but God giveth him not power to have enjoyment of it, for a strange man hath the enjoyment: that is vanity and an evil disease." The author presents the result of personal observation; but inasmuch as he relates it in the second tense, he generalizes the matter, and places it scenically before the eyes of the reader. A similar introduction with ישׁ, but without the unnecessary asher, is found at Ecclesiastes 5:12; Ecclesiastes 10:5. Regarding בּה, vid., under Ecclesiastes 8:6; על does not denote the subj., as at Ecclesiastes 2:17 : it appears great to a man, but it has its nearest lying local meaning; it is a great (Ecclesiastes 2:21) evil, pressing in its greatness heavily upon man. The evil is not the man himself, but the condition in which he is placed, as when, e.g., the kingdom of heaven is compared to a merchant (Matthew 13:45.), - not the merchant in himself, but his conduct and life is a figure of the kingdom of heaven.