Ecclesiastes 6:3

Ecclesiastes 6:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
• New International Version (NIV)A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he—

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:3

1There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: 2a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the power or capacity to enjoy them [all those things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] enjoys them. This is vanity and it is a [cause of] great distress. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he, 4for the miscarriage comes in futility (in vain) and passes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity. 5It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.

Ecclesiastes 6:3 word by word

אִם־יוֹלִ֣יד אִ֣ישׁ מֵאָ֡ה וְשָׁנִים֩ רַבּ֨וֹת יִֽחְיֶ֜ה וְרַ֣ב׀ שֶׁיִּהְי֣וּ יְמֵֽי־שָׁנָ֗יו וְנַפְשׁוֹ֙ לֹא־תִשְׂבַּ֣ע מִן־הַטּוֹבָ֔ה וְגַם־קְבוּרָ֖ה לֹא־הָ֣יְתָה לּ֑וֹ אָמַ֕רְתִּי ט֥וֹב מִמֶּ֖נּוּ הַנָּֽפֶל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If a manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• begetיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• an hundredמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
• and liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
• manyרַבrab · manyH7227
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• so that the daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• and his soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• be not filledשָׂבֵעַώâba‛ ώâbêa‛ · to satisfyH7646
• with goodטוֹבָהţôb · welfareH2896
• he have no burialקְבֻרָהqebûrâh qebûrâh · tombH6900
• I sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• an untimely birthנֵ֫פֶלnephel nêphel · miscarriageH5309
• betterטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:3

• Genesis 33:5Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” So Jacob replied, “They are the children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
• 1 Samuel 2:20Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she asked for which was dedicated to the Lord.” Then they would return to their own home.
• 2 Kings 10:1Ahab had seventy sons [and grandsons] in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying,
• 1 Chronicles 28:5Of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.
• 2 Chronicles 11:21Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter (granddaughter) of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines—for he had taken eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and he fathered twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.
• Esther 5:11Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the large number of his sons, and every instance in which the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him over the officials and servants of the king.
• Psalms 127:4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.
• Proverbs 17:6Grandchildren are the crown of aged men, And the glory of children is their fathers [who live godly lives].
• Genesis 47:9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, and they have not reached the years that my fathers lived during the days of their pilgrimage.”
• 2 Kings 9:35They went to bury her, but they found nothing left of her except the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.
• Esther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger subsided.
• Esther 9:14So the king commanded it to be done; the decree was given in Susa, and they hanged [the bodies of] Haman’s ten sons.
• Isaiah 14:19But you [king of Babylon] have been cast out of your tomb (denied burial) Like a rejected branch, Clothed with the slain who are pierced by the sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit [into which carcasses are thrown], Like a dead body trampled [underfoot].
• Jeremiah 22:19He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey— Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah 36:30Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah, “He shall have no heir to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be thrown out to the heat of the day and to the frost of the night.
• Ecclesiastes 4:3But better off than either of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3If a man beget a hundred children - If he have the most numerous family and the largest possessions, and is so much attached to his riches that he grudges himself a monument; an abortion in the eye of reason is to be preferred to such a man; himself is contemptible, and his life worthless. The abortion comes in with vanity - baulks expectation, departs in darkness - never opened its eyes upon the light, and its name is covered with darkness - it has no…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3No burial - For a corpse to lie unburied was a circumstance in itself of special ignominy and dishonor (compare the marginal references).Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-6a hundred children and live for many years: The blessings of old age and children mean nothing if life is not enjoyable or does not end well with a proper burial. It is better to be stillborn than to live a life full of unhappiness.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Even if a man (of this character) have very many (equivalent to "a hundred," 2Ki 10:1) children, and not have a "stranger" as his heir (Ec 6:2), and live long ("days of years" express the brevity of life at its best, Ge 47:9), yet enjoy no real "good" in life, and lie unhonored, without "burial," at death (2Ki 9:26, 35), the embryo is better than he. In the East to be without burial is the greatest degradation. "Better the fruit that drops from the…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 6:3

• Old Age

In the dictionaries

• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings