Ecclesiastes 6 · Verse 1

Ecclesiastes 6:1

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

Ecclesiastes 6:1, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 6:1 in other translations

BSB	There is another evil I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind:
WEB	There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men:
ASV	There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men:
YLT	There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is great on man:
DARBY	There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it is frequent among men:
BBE	There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is hard on men;
Webster	There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:

What does Ecclesiastes 6:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Ec 6:1-12. 1. common--or else more literally,--"great upon man," falls heavily upon man.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

The vanity of riches without use, Ecc 6:1, Ecc 6:2. Of children and of old age without riches and enjoyment, Ecc 6:3-7. Man does not know what is good for himself, Ecc 6:8-12.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ecclesiastes 6:1-6

The vanity of riches. Also of long life and flourishing families. (Eccl. 6:1-6) The little advantage any one has in outward things. (Eccl. 6:7-12) Verses 1-6 A man often has all he needs for outward enjoyment; yet the Lord leaves him so to covetousness or evil dispositions, that he makes no good or comfortable use of what he has. By one means or other his possessions come to strangers; this is vanity, and an evil disease. A numerous family was a matter of fond desire and of high honour among the Hebrews; and long life is the desire of mankind in general. Even with these additions a man may not be able to enjoy his riches, family, and life. Such a man, in his passage through life, seems to have been born for no end or use. And he who has entered on life only for one moment, to quit it the next, has a preferable lot to him who has lived long, but only to suffer.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Ecclesiastes 6:1 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.

יֵ֣שׁyeshthereH3426

רָעָ֔הra.'Ah[is] an evilH7451

אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.SherwhichH834

רָאִ֖יתִיra.'I.tiI have seenH7200

תַּ֣חַתTa.chatunderH8478

הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁha.Sha.meshthe sunH8121

וְרַבָּ֥הve.ra.Bahand [is] greatH7227

הִ֖יאhi'itH1931

עַל\־'al-onH5921

הָאָדָֽם\׃ha.'a.Dam<the> humankindH120

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

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 6:1

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.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1 The vanity of riches without use;
3 though a man have many children and a long life.
7 The vanity of sight and wandering desires.
10 The conclusion of vanities.

5:13

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

Context

Ecclesiastes 6:1
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men:
Ecclesiastes 6:2
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.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 6

Ecclesiastes 6:1 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	HAY un mal que he visto debajo del cielo, y muy común entre los hombres:
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Il y a un mal que j’ai vu sous le soleil, et qui est fréquent parmi les hommes:
German Elberfelder 1871	Es gibt ein Übel, welches ich unter der Sonne gesehen habe, und schwer lastet es auf dem Menschen:
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Est et aliud malum quod vidi sub sole, et quidem frequens apud homines: