Ecclesiastes 6:3

Ecclesiastes 6:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
• New International Version (NIV)A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If 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—

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:3

1There is a misery that I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon humanity. 2God gives a man riches, wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing that his heart desires, yet God does not enable him to eat from it—instead a foreigner will eat it. This is fruitless—an agonizing illness. Even if a man should father a hundred children and live many years, however many the days of his years may be, yet his soul is never satisfied with his prosperity and he does not have a proper burial, then I say that it is better for the stillborn than him. 4Even though it comes in futility and departs into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness, 5though it has never seen or experienced the sun, it has more rest than the other.

Ecclesiastes 6:3 word by word

אִם־יוֹלִ֣יד אִ֣ישׁ מֵאָ֡ה וְשָׁנִים֩ רַבּ֨וֹת יִֽחְיֶ֜ה וְרַ֣ב׀ שֶׁיִּהְי֣וּ יְמֵֽי־שָׁנָ֗יו וְנַפְשׁוֹ֙ לֹא־תִשְׂבַּ֣ע מִן־הַטּוֹבָ֔ה וְגַם־קְבוּרָ֖ה לֹא־הָ֣יְתָה לּ֑וֹ אָמַ֕רְתִּי ט֥וֹב מִמֶּ֖נּוּ הַנָּֽפֶל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• If a manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• begetיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
• an hundredמֵאָהmê'âh mê'yâh · hundredH3967
• and liveחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
• manyרַבrab · manyH7227
• yearsשָׁנָהshâneh shânâh · yearH8141
• so that the daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• and his soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• be not filledשָׂבֵעַώâba‛ ώâbêa‛ · to satisfyH7646
• with goodטוֹבָהţôb · welfareH2896
• he have no burialקְבֻרָהqebûrâh qebûrâh · tombH6900
• I sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• an untimely birthנֵ֫פֶלnephel nêphel · miscarriageH5309
• betterטוֹבţôb · pleasantH2896

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:3

• Genesis 33:5His eyes glanced up and he saw the women and the children, and said, “Who are these with you?” “The children whom God has graciously given your servant,” he said.
• 1 Samuel 2:20Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife and say, “May Adonai give you offspring from this woman instead of the one she requested from Adonai.” Then they would return to their place.
• 2 Kings 10:1Now Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab’s sons, saying:
• 1 Chronicles 28:5Moreover, of all my sons—for Adonai has given me many sons—He has chosen Solomon my son to sit on the throne of the kingdom of Adonai over Israel.
• 2 Chronicles 11:21Now Rehoboam loved Maacah the daughter of Absalom more than all his wives and concubines—for he took 18 wives and 60 concubines and fathered 28 sons and 60 daughters.
• Esther 5:11Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and how the king had promoted him and exalted him above the other officials and servants of the king.
• Psalms 127:4As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of one’s youth.
• Proverbs 17:6Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly and the glory of children is their parents.
• Genesis 47:9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourn are 130 years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life. Moreover, the days of the years of my life have not attained the days of the years of the lives of my fathers, in the days of their sojourn.”
• 2 Kings 9:35But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands.
• Esther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s rage subsided.
• Esther 9:14The king commanded that this be done. A decree was issued in Shushan and they hanged Haman’s 10 sons.
• Isaiah 14:19But you are cast out of your tomb as a discarded branch, garment of the slain, pierced with a sword, dumped into a stony pit, a corpse trodden underfoot.
• Jeremiah 22:19With a donkey’s burial will he be buried, dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
• Jeremiah 36:30Therefore thus says Adonai about King Jehoiakim of Judah: “He will have no one to sit on the throne of David. Moreover, his dead body will be tossed out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night.
• Ecclesiastes 4:3Yet better than both is one who has not yet been, who has never seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3If a man beget a hundred children - If he have the most numerous family and the largest possessions, and is so much attached to his riches that he grudges himself a monument; an abortion in the eye of reason is to be preferred to such a man; himself is contemptible, and his life worthless. The abortion comes in with vanity - baulks expectation, departs in darkness - never opened its eyes upon the light, and its name is covered with darkness - it has no…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3No burial - For a corpse to lie unburied was a circumstance in itself of special ignominy and dishonor (compare the marginal references).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. 33. Even if a man (of this character) have very many (equivalent to "a hundred," 2Ki 10:1) children, and not have a "stranger" as his heir (Ec 6:2), and live long ("days of years" express the brevity of life at its best, Ge 47:9), yet enjoy no real "good" in life, and lie unhonored, without "burial," at death (2Ki 9:26, 35), the embryo is better than he. In the East to be without burial is the greatest degradation. "Better the fruit that drops from the…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 6:3

• Old Age

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