Ecclesiastes 5:11

Ecclesiastes 5:11 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?
• New International Version (NIV)As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
• English Standard Version (ESV)When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?
• New King James Version (NKJV)When goods increase, They increase who eat them; So what profit have the owners Except to see them with their eyes?

Context of Ecclesiastes 5:11

9Moreover the earth is every way profitable: the king [himself] is dependent upon the field. 10He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes? 12The sleep of the labourer is sweet, whether he have eaten little or much; but the fulness of the rich doth not suffer him to sleep. 13There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;

Ecclesiastes 5:11 word by word

בִּרְבוֹת֙ הַטּוֹבָ֔ה רַבּ֖וּ אוֹכְלֶ֑יהָ וּמַה־כִּשְׁרוֹן֙ לִבְעָלֶ֔יהָ כִּ֖י אִם־רְא֥וּת עֵינָֽיו׃Read the interlinear

• increaseרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
• eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 5:11

• Genesis 12:16And he treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels.
• Genesis 13:2And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
• 1 Kings 4:22And Solomon's provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty measures of meal,
• 1 Kings 5:13And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.
• Nehemiah 5:17And there were at my table a hundred and fifty of the Jews and the rulers, besides those that came to us from among the nations that were about us.
• Psalms 119:36Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to gain.
• Ecclesiastes 6:9Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
• Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know that for all these [things] God will bring thee into judgment.
• Joshua 7:21I saw among the spoils a beautiful mantle of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a golden bar of fifty shekels weight, and I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
• Proverbs 23:5wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.
• Jeremiah 17:11[As] the partridge sitteth on [eggs] it hath not laid, [so] is he that getteth riches and not by right: in the midst of his days shall he leave them, and at his end shall be a fool.
• Habakkuk 2:13Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
• 1 John 2:16because all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5:11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11When goods increase - An increase of property always brings an increase of expense, by a multitude of servants; and the owner really possesses no more, and probably enjoys much less, than he did, when every day provided its own bread, and could lay up no store for the next. But if he have more enjoyment, his cares are multiplied; and he has no kind of profit. "This also is vanity."Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11They … that eat them - i. e., The laborers employed, and the household servants.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-17Verses 9-17 The goodness of Providence is more equally distributed than appears to a careless observer. The king needs the common things of life, and the poor share them; they relish their morsel better than he does his luxuries. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy, much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires. The more men have, the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. they ... that eat them--the rich man's dependents (Psa 23:5).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 5:11

• Avarice
• Covetousness
• Riches

In the dictionaries

• Abundance
• Angry
• Defer
• Eat
• Error
• Vow
• Good
• Goods
• Save
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings