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 Living Translation (NLT)and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man.

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:5

3If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he— 4for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. Though it has not seen the sun or known anything, this has more rest than that man, 6even if he lives a thousand years twice—but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place? 7All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the 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 up the doors of my mother’s womb, Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.
• Job 14:1“Man who is born of woman Is of few days and full of trouble.
• Psalms 58:8Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes, Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
• Psalms 90:7For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are 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