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 Living Translation (NLT)Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:9

7All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied. 8For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 10Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he. 11Since there are many things that increase vanity, How is man the better?

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 2:24Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
• Ecclesiastes 3:12I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,
• Ecclesiastes 5:18Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.
• Job 31:7If my step has turned from the way, Or my heart walked after my eyes, Or if any spot adheres to my hands,
• Proverbs 30:15The leech has two daughters— Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:
• Jeremiah 2:20“For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; And you said, ‘I will not transgress,’ When on every high hill and under every green tree You lay down, playing the harlot.
• Ecclesiastes 6:2A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction.
• Ecclesiastes 1:2“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
• Ecclesiastes 2:11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done And on the labor in which I had toiled; And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 4:4Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for 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