Ecclesiastes 6:3
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.
Ecclesiastes 6:3 in other translations
| BSB | A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. |
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| WEB | 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 filled with good, and moreover he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he; |
| ASV | If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he: |
| YLT | If a man doth beget a hundred, and live many years, and is great, because they are the days of his years, and his soul is not satisfied from the goodness, and also he hath not had a grave, I have said, ‘Better than he is the untimely birth.' |
| DARBY | If a man beget a hundred sons, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, but his soul be not filled with good, and also he have no burial, I say an untimely birth is better than he. |
| BBE | If a man has a hundred children, and his life is long so that the days of his years are great in number, but his soul takes no pleasure in good, and he is not honoured at his death; I say that a birth before its time is better than he. |
| Webster | If a man begetteth a hundred children, and liveth many years, so that the days of his years are many, and his soul is not filled with good, and also that he hath no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. |
What does Ecclesiastes 6:3 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
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…
Ecclesiastes 6:3 in the original Hebrew
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Cross references for Ecclesiastes 6:3
- Job 3:16
Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.
- Ecclesiastes 4:3
Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- 2 Kings 9:35
And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
- Jeremiah 22:19
He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
- Genesis 47:9
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
- Isaiah 14:19-20
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
- Matthew 26:24
The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
- Esther 5:11
And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
- Ecclesiastes 5:17-19
All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness. Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
- Psalms 58:8
As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
- Psalms 127:4-5
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
- Esther 7:10
So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- 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.
- Ecclesiastes 6:3
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.
- Ecclesiastes 6:4
For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
Ecclesiastes 6:3 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Si el hombre engendrare ciento, y viviere muchos años, y los días de su edad fueren numerosos; si su alma no se hartó del bien, y también careció de sepultura, yo digo que el abortivo es mejor que él. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Si un homme engendre 100 fils, et qu’il vive beaucoup d’années, et que les jours de ses années soient en grand nombre, et que son âme ne soit pas rassasiée de bien, et aussi qu’il n’ait pas de sépulture, je dis que mieux vaut un avorton que lui; |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Wenn einer hundert Söhne zeugte und viele Jahre lebte, und der Tage seiner Jahre wären viele, und seine Seele sättigte sich nicht an Gutem, und auch würde ihm kein Begräbnis zuteil, so sage ich: Eine Fehlgeburt ist besser daran als er. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Si genuerit quispiam centum liberos, et vixerit multos annos, et plures dies ætatis habuerit, et anima illius non utatur bonis substantiæ suæ, sepulturaque careat: de hoc ergo pronuntio quod melior illo sit abortivus. |