Passage

Ecclesiastes 6.7

Book: Ecclesiastes · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

5. moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other: 6. yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoy no good, do not all go to one place?

7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

For what advantage hath the wise more than the fool? or what hath the poor man, that knoweth how to walk before the living? 9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 6:5-9, ASV)

WEB

5. Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other. 6. Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don’t all go to one place?

7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living? 9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. (Ecclesiastes 6:5-9, WEB)

KJV

5. Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6. Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

7. All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. ^{appetite: Heb. soul}

For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? 9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. ^{than: Heb. than the walking of the soul} (Ecclesiastes 6:5-9, KJV)

YLT

5. Even the sun he hath not seen nor known, more rest hath this than that. 6. And though he had lived a thousand years twice over, yet good he hath not seen; to the same place doth not every one go?

7. All the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the soul is not filled.

For what advantage [is] to the wise above the fool? What to the poor who knoweth to walk before the living? 9. Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the going of the soul. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit. (Ecclesiastes 6:5-9, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Qohelet, "the Preacher" (Ecclesiastes 1:1), traditionally Solomon
Audience: readers of Israel's wisdom tradition weighing life "under the sun"
Location: Jerusalem, where the Preacher "was king over Israel" (Ecclesiastes 1:12)
Time period: traditionally c. 970-930 BC (Solomon's reign); many scholars date the book later, c. 450-200 BC

Theological reading

The verse sits in a section on wealth that cannot be enjoyed (Ecclesiastes 6:1-9). A man may be given riches and honor and still lack the power to eat of them (Ecclesiastes 6:2). Here Qohelet states the rule behind it: all labor goes to the mouth, and yet the appetite is never filled.

"Appetite" translates nephesh; the KJV margin notes "Heb. soul." The word reaches from throat and hunger to the whole living self, so the line works on two levels. The body eats and is hungry again, and the self that drives the labor is not satisfied by what labor brings. The book says the same of the eye and ear (Ecclesiastes 1:8) and of the lone worker whose "eyes [are not] satisfied with riches" (Ecclesiastes 4:8).

Two verses later Qohelet concludes, "Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 6:9). The codex builds on the verse in Argument from Restlessness: a hunger that no amount of supply fills points beyond the supply. Isaiah asks the same question, "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?" (Isaiah 55:2).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

H0120 - adam, adam, Strong's H0120
H5315 - nephesh, nephesh, Strong's H5315

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Argument from Restlessness

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.