Ecclesiastes 5 · Verse 13

Ecclesiastes 5:13

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
Ecclesiastes 5:13, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 5:13 in other translations

BSBThere is a grievous evil I have seen under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner,
WEBThere is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.
ASVThere is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:
YLTThere is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept for its possessor, for his evil.
DARBYThere is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;
BBEThere is a great evil which I have seen under the sun--wealth kept by the owner to be his downfall.
WebsterThere is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners of them to their hurt.

What does Ecclesiastes 5:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Ecclesiastes 5:13-14
13-14. Proofs of God's judgments even in this world (Pr 11:31). The rich oppressor's wealth provokes enemies, robbers, &c. Then, after having kept it for an expected son, he loses it beforehand by misfortune ("by evil travail"), and the son is born to be heir of poverty. Ec 2:19, 23 gives another aspect of the same subject.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 13 Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt - This may be the case through various causes: 1. He may make an improper use of them, and lose his health by them. 2. He may join in an unfortunate partnership and lose all. 3. His riches may excite the desire of the robber; and he may spoil him of his goods, and even take away his life. 4. Or, he may leave them to his son, who turns profligate; spends the whole, and ruins both his body and soul. I have seen this again and again.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 5:9-17

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…

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 5:9-17 →

Ecclesiastes 5:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

יֵ֚שׁyeshthereH3426
רָעָ֣הra.'Ah[is] an evilH7451
חוֹלָ֔הcho.LahsevereH2470
רָאִ֖יתִיra.'I.ti[which] I have seenH7200
תַּ֣חַתTa.chatunderH8478
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁha.Sha.meshthe sunH8121
עֹ֛שֶׁר'O.sherwealthH6239
שָׁמ֥וּרsha.Mur[was] being keptH8104
לִבְעָלָ֖יוliv.'a.Lavby owner<s> itsH1167
לְרָעָתֽוֹ\׃le.ra.'a.Toto harm hisH7451

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 5:13

  • Ecclesiastes 6:1-2

    There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

  • Luke 18:22-23

    Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

  • Luke 16:22-23

    And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

  • Genesis 19:14

    And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

  • James 5:1-4

    Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.

  • Isaiah 32:6-8

    For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

  • Proverbs 11:24-25

    There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

  • Genesis 14:16

    And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

  • Ecclesiastes 4:8

    There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

  • Ecclesiastes 8:9

    All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

  • Proverbs 1:32

    For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

  • Proverbs 1:19

    So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
a sore.
4:8; 6:1,2
riches.
8:9; Ge 13:5-11; 14:16; 19:14,26,31-38; Pr 1:11-13,19,32
Pr 11:4,24,25; Isa 2:20; 32:6-8; Zep 1:18; Lu 12:16-21
Lu 16:1-13,19,22,23; 18:22,23; 19:8; 1Ti 6:9,10; Jas 2:5-7; 5:1-4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ecclesiastes 5:12

    The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

  • Ecclesiastes 5:13

    There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

  • Ecclesiastes 5:14

    But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Ecclesiastes 5:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Hay una trabajosa enfermedad que he visto debajo del sol: las riquezas guardadas de sus dueños para su mal;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		– ou ces richesses périssent par quelque circonstance malheureuse, et il a engendré un fils, et il n’a rien en sa main.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Es gibt ein schlimmes Übel, das ich unter der Sonne gesehen habe: Reichtum, welcher von dessen Besitzer zu seinem Unglück aufbewahrt wird.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Pereunt enim in afflictione pessima: generavit filium qui in summa egestate erit.