Ecclesiastes 6 · Verse 4

Ecclesiastes 6:4

For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
Ecclesiastes 6:4, King James Version

Ecclesiastes 6:4 in other translations

BSBFor a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.
WEBfor it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.
ASVfor it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;
YLTFor in vanity he came in, and in darkness he goeth, and in darkness his name is covered,
DARBYFor it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness;
BBEIn wind it came and to the dark it will go, and with the dark will its name be covered.
WebsterFor he cometh with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

What does Ecclesiastes 6:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. he--rather "it," "the untimely birth." So "its," not "his name." with vanity--to no purpose; a type of the driftless existence of him who makes riches the chief good. darkness--of the abortive; a type of the unhonored death and dark future beyond the grave of the avaricious.

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

Read the full comment on Ecclesiastes 6:1-6 →

Ecclesiastes 6:4 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.

כִּֽי\־ki-forH3588
בַהֶ֥בֶלva.He.velin <the> futilityH1892
בָּ֖אba'it cameH935
וּבַחֹ֣שֶׁךְu.va.Cho.shekhand in <the> darknessH2822
יֵלֵ֑ךְye.Lekhit will goH1980
וּבַחֹ֖שֶׁךְu.va.Cho.shekhand in <the> darknessH2822
שְׁמ֥וֹshe.Moname itsH8034
יְכֻסֶּֽה\׃ye.khu.Sehit is coveredH3680

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

Cross references for Ecclesiastes 6:4

  • Psalms 109:13

    Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
his name.
Ps 109:13

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

Context

  • 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 6:5

    Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.

Read all of Ecclesiastes 6

Ecclesiastes 6:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque en vano vino, y á tinieblas va, y con tinieblas será cubierto su nombre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		car celui-ci vient dans la vanité, et il s’en va dans les ténèbres, et son nom est couvert de ténèbres;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Denn in Nichtigkeit kommt sie, und in Finsternis geht sie dahin, und mit Finsternis wird ihr Name bedeckt;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Frustra enim venit, et pergit ad tenebras, et oblivione delebitur nomen ejus.