Ecclesiastes 6:5

Ecclesiastes 6:5 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
• New International Version (NIV)Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—
• English Standard Version (ESV)Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man,

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:5

3If 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. It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he. 6Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice over and yet has seen no good and experienced no enjoyment—do not both go to one place [the grave]?” 7All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet the desire [of his soul] is not satisfied.

Ecclesiastes 6:5 word by word

גַּם־שֶׁ֥מֶשׁ לֹא־רָאָ֖ה וְלֹ֣א יָדָ֑ע נַ֥חַת לָזֶ֖ה מִזֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Moreover he hath not seenרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• the sunשֶׁ֫מֶשׁshemesh · sunH8121
• nor knownיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• thisזֶהzeh · thisH2088
• hath more restנַ֫חַתnachath · quietnessH5183

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:5

• Job 3:10Because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hide trouble from my eyes.
• Job 14:1“Man, who is born of a woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
• Psalms 58:8Let them be as a snail which melts away (secretes slime) as it goes along, Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.
• Psalms 90:7For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been terrified.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6:5

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Rather, it hath not seen nor known the sun: this (the untimely birth) hath rest rather than the other.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. 55. this--yet "it has more rest than" the toiling, gloomy miser.Read the comment

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