Ecclesiastes 6:6 kjv
Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
Ecclesiastes 6:6 nkjv
even if he lives a thousand years twice?but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place?
Ecclesiastes 6:6 niv
even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
Ecclesiastes 6:6 esv
Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good ? do not all go to the one place?
Ecclesiastes 6:6 nlt
He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else ? well, what's the use?
Ecclesiastes 6 6 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ecc 2:24 | There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God... | Enjoyment is a gift from God. |
| Ecc 3:12-13 | I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man. | God's gift of joy and work's pleasure. |
| Ecc 5:18-20 | Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun... This is his lot. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. | True prosperity is divine joy. |
| Ecc 6:2 | ...a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a foreigner consumes them... | Lack of enjoyment negates blessings. |
| Ecc 6:3-5 | Even if a man begets a hundred children and lives many years... yet his soul is not satisfied with good things, and he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity... | The stillborn is better than joyless longevity. |
| Ecc 8:15 | So I commended enjoyment, for there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil... | Emphasizing enjoyment as life's best. |
| Ecc 9:2-3 | It is the same for all... all go to one place. | Common destiny of all people. |
| Ecc 9:5-6 | For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing... their love and their hate and their envy have already perished... they no longer have a share in anything that is done under the sun. | Death ends all earthly involvement. |
| Gen 3:19 | By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. | Mortality as the ultimate equalizer. |
| Job 3:19 | The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master. | Death levels all social distinctions. |
| Ps 49:10-12 | For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever... though they had renown on earth. | Death nullifies wealth and wisdom. |
| Ps 49:17 | For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. | Cannot take wealth to the grave. |
| Ps 89:48 | What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? | No escape from death's grip. |
| Ps 90:10 | The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; soon they are gone, and we fly away. | Life is brief and full of trouble. |
| Isa 14:10-11 | All of them will answer and say to you: 'You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us!' Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps... | Death humbles the proud. |
| Heb 9:27 | And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment... | Universality of death. |
| Jas 1:10-11 | ...and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the field he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perished. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. | Rich and poor share common fate in death. |
| Jas 4:14 | yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. | Life's brevity and transient nature. |
| Phil 1:21 | For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. | Christian perspective: gain in death. |
| 2 Cor 5:8 | Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. | Christian hope beyond the grave. |
Ecclesiastes 6 verses
Ecclesiastes 6 6 Meaning
Ecclesiastes 6:6 declares that even a life extended to an extreme, such as two thousand years, is meaningless if the individual does not experience or enjoy good things. Despite such extraordinary longevity, all people, whether they live long or short, enjoy prosperity or not, ultimately share the same common destiny: the grave. The verse highlights the futility of life and accumulated blessings "under the sun" without the crucial element of divine enjoyment.
Ecclesiastes 6 6 Context
Ecclesiastes, attributed to "the Preacher" (Kohelet), explores the meaning of life "under the sun"—from a purely earthly, human perspective. Chapter 6 continues the theme that wealth, progeny, and even extended life, if not accompanied by the capacity to enjoy them, are ultimately futile (hevel, meaning vapor or vanity). The Preacher observes that many acquire great blessings yet cannot truly savor them, sometimes even having them consumed by strangers. Verse 6:6 serves as a climactic rhetorical question following this observation, explicitly stating that even unprecedented longevity, when devoid of true enjoyment, offers no advantage over a brief existence or even stillbirth, as all destinies converge in "one place" – the grave. This challenges the prevalent ancient Near Eastern belief that long life and abundant children were infallible signs of divine favor and ultimate blessings.
Ecclesiastes 6 6 Word analysis
- Indeed, though he may live (וְאִם יִחְיֶה - wəʾim yiḥyeh): The initial "Indeed" (wəʾim, lit. "and if" but here carrying emphatic weight) introduces a hypothetical yet profound scenario. "He may live" (yִḥְיֶה from ḥāyāh) denotes mere existence, breathing, staying alive, rather than vibrant flourishing. The Preacher stresses that duration of life is not inherently valuable.
- a thousand years twice over (אֶלֶף שָׁנִים פַּעֲמַיִם - ʾelef shanim paʿamayim): This is a deliberate hyperbole, emphasizing an extraordinary, perhaps unimaginable, lifespan (2000 years). It pushes the boundary of what humans consider long life to highlight that even the most extreme case doesn't alter the core conclusion of futility without joy. It highlights the irrelevance of temporal duration in the face of spiritual void.
- but fails to enjoy prosperity (וְטוֹבָה לֹא רָאָה - wəṭôvâ lōʾ rāʾâ): "Prosperity" or "good" (ṭôvâ) refers to goodness, benefit, happiness, or all that is intrinsically beneficial and desirable in life. "Fails to enjoy" (lōʾ râʾâ, lit. "not see good") is crucial. It signifies not just the absence of external good, but crucially, the inability to experience or perceive good, to take pleasure, or to find satisfaction from what one does have. This "enjoyment" is presented repeatedly in Ecclesiastes as a divine gift (Ecc 2:24-25; 3:12-13; 5:18-20). The problem is not necessarily a lack of "prosperity" but the inability to benefit from it.
- do not both go (הֲלֹא אֶל מָקוֹם אֶחָד הֹלֵךְ הַכֹּל - halōʾ ʾel māqôm ʾeḥāḏ holēkh hakkōl): This is a rhetorical question expecting an affirmative answer, underlining an undeniable truth. The term "both" here implies the exceedingly long-lived individual mentioned and implicitly compares them to everyone else, including the stillborn child discussed in the preceding verses (Ecc 6:3-5). The question highlights the ultimate equalizer.
- to one place? (אֶל מָקוֹם אֶחָד - ʾel māqôm ʾeḥāḏ): This refers unequivocally to the grave, to Sheol. It is the common, universal destination for all humanity, regardless of their life's length, accomplishments, or material possessions. Death levels all human distinctions.
Words-group analysis:
- "though he may live a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy prosperity": This phrase starkly contrasts a life of extreme longevity and apparent abundance (implicitly, because one who lives so long might accumulate much) with an inner emptiness and lack of fulfillment. It argues that external factors like years lived or accumulated wealth are meaningless without the internal capacity or divine gift of enjoyment. Physical existence without true experience of good is a hollow shell.
- "do not both go to one place?": This rhetorical question highlights the absolute impartiality of death. All distinctions among humans—age, wealth, status, wisdom—are nullified at the grave. The destiny of the exceedingly long-lived and supposedly "successful" person is precisely the same as that of a stillborn child (as suggested in Ecc 6:3-5), making the "successful" life potentially worse due to its protracted suffering or lack of enjoyment.
Ecclesiastes 6 6 Bonus section
The concept of yitrôn (profit or advantage), a recurring question throughout Ecclesiastes ("What advantage does man have?"), is strongly connected here. The verse concludes that even extraordinary longevity yields no ultimate yitrôn if it lacks enjoyment, as death cancels out all temporary earthly advantages. This underscores Kohelet's consistent message that lasting benefit is elusive "under the sun" when measured by human effort alone. This verse strengthens the Preacher's point made in 6:3-5, that a stillborn child who avoids the painful experience of an unenjoyed life is arguably "better" than one who lives for millennia without true fulfillment before inevitably going to the same grave. The implication is a lament over humanity's plight, where the true gift (enjoyment) often eludes those with ample opportunity, making existence a burden rather than a blessing.
Ecclesiastes 6 6 Commentary
Ecclesiastes 6:6 powerfully critiques the conventional wisdom that equates long life or abundant possessions with a fulfilling existence. The Preacher contends that true "goodness" or "prosperity" lies not in the mere accumulation of years or wealth, but in the God-given ability to enjoy and benefit from life's experiences. Without this capacity for enjoyment—a divine gift repeatedly emphasized in the book—even an unfathomably long life becomes a protracted exercise in futility. Death serves as the ultimate equalizer, leveling all human distinctions and nullifying any perceived advantage of longevity without enjoyment, as all humanity eventually shares the same resting place. This verse is a somber reminder of life's temporal limits and the transient nature of earthly pursuits when viewed in isolation from their divine source of meaning and pleasure.