Ecclesiastes 6:9

Ecclesiastes 6:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
• New International Version (NIV)Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:9

7All of a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet the appetite is never satisfied. 8What advantage then does the wise person have over the fool? What advantage is there for the poor person who knows how to conduct himself before others? Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 10Whatever exists was given its name long ago, and it is known what mankind is. But he is not able to contend with the one stronger than he. 11For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for mankind?

Ecclesiastes 6:9 word by word

ט֛וֹב מַרְאֵ֥ה עֵינַ֖יִם מֵֽהֲלָךְ־נָ֑פֶשׁ גַּם־זֶ֥ה הֶ֖בֶל וּרְע֥וּת רֽוּחַ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Betterטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896
• the sightמַרְאֶהmar'eh · appearanceH4758
• of the eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• than the wanderingהָלַךְhâlak · to go: walkH1980
• of the desireנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• also vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892
• and vexationרְעוּתre‛ûth · longingH7469
• of spiritרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:9

• Ecclesiastes 2:24There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,
• Ecclesiastes 3:12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the good life.
• Ecclesiastes 5:18Here is what I have seen to be good: It is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.
• Job 31:7If my step has turned from the way, my heart has followed my eyes, or impurity has stained my hands,
• Proverbs 30:15The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!” Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough!”:
• Jeremiah 2:20For long ago I broke your yoke; I tore off your chains. You insisted, “I will not serve!” On every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a prostitute.
• Ecclesiastes 6:2God gives a person riches, wealth, and honor so that he lacks nothing of all he desires for himself, but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a sickening tragedy.
• Ecclesiastes 1:2“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.”
• Ecclesiastes 2:11When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 4:4I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person’s jealousy of another. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire - This is translated by the Vulgate, as a sort of adage: Melius est videre quod cupias, quam desiderare quod nescias, "It is better to see what one desires than to covet what one knows not." It is better to enjoy the present than to feed one's self with vain desires of the future. What we translate the wandering of desire, נפש מהלך mehaloch nephesh, is the travelling of the soul. What is…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-9Verses 7-9 Connect these verses with Ecclesiastes 6:2-3: “All labor is undertaken with a view to some profit, but as a rule the people who labor are never satisfied. What advantage then has he who labors if (being rich) he is wise, or if being poor he knows how to conduct himself properly; what advantage have such laborers above a fool? (None, so far as they are without contentment, for) a thing present before the eyes is preferable to a future which…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 A little will serve to sustain us comfortably, and a great deal can do no more. The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to give satisfaction. The poor man has comfort as well as the richest, and is under no real disadvantage. We cannot say, Better is the sight of the eyes than the resting of the soul in God; for it is better to live by faith in things to come, than to live by sense, which dwells only upon present…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-9What advantage, then, has the wise man over the fool?: They have an advantage if they enjoy and are content with what the Lord has given them.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Answer to the question in Ec 6:8. This is the advantage: Better is the sight of the eyes--the wise man's godly enjoyment of present seen blessings than the (fool's) wandering--literally, walking (Psa 73:9), of the desire, that is, vague, insatiable desires for what he has not (Ec 6:7; He 13:5). this--restless wandering of desire, and not enjoying contentedly the present (1Ti 6:6, 8).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 6:9

• Contentment

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