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

9A lover of money never has enough money, and a lover of wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is futile. 10When goods increase, so do those who consume them. So what advantage are they to the owner except he sees it with his eyes? The sleep of the laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much— but the excess of the rich permits him no sleep. 12There is a grievous wrong that I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded by its owner to his own hurt, 13or wealth lost in a bad investment, and when he fathers a son, there is nothing in his hand.

Ecclesiastes 5:11 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• When goodsטוֹבָהţôb · welfareH2896
• increaseרָבָהrâbâh · to multiplyH7235
• they are increasedרָבַבrâbab · to multiplyH7231
• that eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• them: and what goodכִּשְׁרוֹןkishrôn · skillH3788
• to the ownersבַּעַלba‛al · masterH1167
• thereof, savingאִם'im · ifH518
• the beholdingרְאוּתre'îyth · sightH7212
• the beholdingרַאיָּהra'ăvâh · to beholdH7207
• with their eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 5:11

• Genesis 12:16But Abram was treated well for her sake, and he got sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys and camels.
• Genesis 13:2Now Abram was very rich in livestock, silver and gold.
• 1 Kings 5:13He also spoke about trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall, and he spoke about beasts, birds, creeping things and fish.
• Nehemiah 5:17Furthermore, 150 Judeans and officials, as well as those that came to us from the nations around us, were at my table.
• Psalms 119:36Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to dishonest gain.
• Ecclesiastes 6:9Better is what the eyes see than the pursuit of the soul’s desires. This too is fleeting and striving after wind.
• Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, young man, in your childhood, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
• Joshua 7:21When I saw among the spoil a beautiful Shinar mantle and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold 50 shekels in weight, I coveted them and took them. Look, they are buried in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it.”
• Proverbs 23:5When you cast your eyes 0n riches, it is gone; for it surely sprouts wings and flies off into the sky like an eagle.
• Jeremiah 17:11As a partridge that broods over young that she did not lay, so is one who gets wealth, unjustly. In the middle of his days it will abandon him, so at his end he will be a fool.
• Habakkuk 2:13Behold, is it not from Adonai-Tzva’ot that peoples toil to fuel a fire, and nations exhaust themselves for emptiness?
• 1 John 2:16For everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the boasting of life—is not from the Father but from 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