New International Version
Ecclesiastes 5:14
14or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit.
Ecclesiastes 5:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But those riches perish through misfortune; When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children.
Context of Ecclesiastes 5:14
12The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. 13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. 15Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. 16This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?
Read all of Ecclesiastes 5Ecclesiastes 5:14 word by word
וְאָבַ֛ד הָעֹ֥שֶׁר הַה֖וּא בְּעִנְיַ֣ן רָ֑ע וְהוֹלִ֣יד בֵּ֔ן וְאֵ֥ין בְּיָד֖וֹ מְאֽוּמָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 5:14
- Ecclesiastes 2:26To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
- Job 5:5The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
- Job 20:15He will spit out the riches he swallowed; God will make his stomach vomit them up.
- Job 27:16Though he heaps up silver like dust and clothes like piles of clay,
- Psalms 39:6“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.
- Proverbs 23:5Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
- Haggai 1:9“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.
- Haggai 2:16When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty.
- Matthew 6:19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
- 1 Samuel 2:6“The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.
- 1 Kings 14:26He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including all the gold shields Solomon had made.
- Psalms 109:9May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand - He has been stripped of his property by unfortunate trade or by plunderers; and he has nothing to leave to his children.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14Evil travail - Adverse accident, or unsuccessful employment (compare Ecclesiastes 1:13; Ecclesiastes 4:8).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
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-14wealth hoarded...wealth lost: Possessions are temporary and can disappear for many reasons.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1413-14. Proofs of God's judgments even in this world (Pr 11:31). The rich oppressor's wealth provokes enemies, robbers, &c. Then, after having kept it for an expected son, he loses it beforehand by misfortune ("by evil travail"), and the son is born to be heir of poverty. Ec 2:19, 23 gives another aspect of the same subject.Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 5:14
In the dictionaries
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
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