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

3Suppose a rich person wasn’t satisfied with good things ⌞while he was alive⌟ and didn’t even get an honorable burial ⌞after he died⌟. Suppose he had a hundred children and lived for many years. No matter how long he would have lived, it ⌞still⌟ would have been better for him to have been born dead. 4A stillborn baby arrives in a pointless birth and goes out into the darkness. The darkness then hides its name. Though it has never seen the sun or known anything, the baby finds more rest than the rich person. 6Even if the rich person lives two thousand years without experiencing anything good—don’t we all go to the same place? 7Everything that people work so hard for goes into their mouths, but their appetite is never 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 the womb ⌞from which I came⌟ or hide my eyes from trouble.
• Job 14:1“A person who is born of a woman is short-lived and is full of trouble.
• Psalms 58:8Let them become like a snail that leaves behind a slimy trail or like a stillborn child who never sees the sun.
• Psalms 90:7Indeed, your anger consumes us. Your rage terrifies us.

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