SEV Biblia, Chapter 6:2
El del hombre a quien Dios dio riquezas, y hacienda, y honra, y nada le falta de todo lo que su alma desea; mas Dios no le dio facultad de comer de ello, sino que los extraños se lo comen. Esto vanidad es, y enfermedad maligna.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Ecclesiastes 6:2
Verse 2. A man to whom God hath given riches - A man may possess much earthly goods, and yet enjoy nothing of them. Possession and fruition are not necessarily joined together; and this is also among the vanities of life. It is worthy of remark, that it belongs to God as much to give the power to enjoy as it does to give the earthly blessings. A wise heathen saw this: - Di tibi divitias dederant, artemque fruendi. HOR. Ep. lib. i., ep. 4, ver. 7. "The gods had given thee riches, and the art to enjoy them."
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 2. A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour , etc.] By “riches” may be meant gold and silver, things which a covetous man is never satisfied with; and by “wealth”, cattle, with which farms and fields are stocked: the wealth of men, especially in former times, and in the eastern countries, lay very much in these, as did the wealth of Abraham and Job, ( Genesis 13:2 Job 1:3); and all these, as they are reckoned glorious and honourable in themselves; so they create honour and glory among men, and raise to high and honourable places; and these, as they go, they are usually put together, and are called by the name of honour and glory itself; (see Proverbs 3:16 2 Chronicles 1:11,12 Genesis 31:1). And they are all the gifts of God, which he either as blessings bestows upon men, or suffers men to attain unto, though a curse may go along with them; which is the case here, for no man whatever is possessed of them but by the will of God or his divine permission; (see Chronicles 29:12); and which a man may, and sometimes has, such a plentiful portion of; so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth : he has not only for the supply of his wants, what is necessary for his daily use and service, but even what is for delight and pleasure; yea, as much as he could reasonably wish for; nay, more than heart could wish, ( Psalm 73:7); yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof ; the Targum adds, “because of his sin”; either he takes it away from him, he making no use of it; or his appetite is taken away, that he has no desire to it; or rather he has no heart to enjoy what he has, and scarce any part of it; not to eat and drink, and wear suitably to his circumstances, but grudges whatever he lays out on his back or belly, or in housekeeping in his family; for though God gives him a large substance, yet not a heart to make use of it, without which he cannot enjoy it; and therefore it would have been as good, or better for him, to have been without it; (see Ecclesiastes 5:19); but a stranger eateth it ; the Syriac version adds, “after him”; enjoys it, not only a part of it, but the whole; one that is not akin to him, and perhaps was never known by him; and yet, by one means or another, either in a lawful or unlawful way, comes into the possession of all he has; this has been always reckoned a great unhappiness, ( Lamentations 5:2 Hosea 7:9). Hence it follows, this [is] vanity, and it [is] an evil disease ; it is a vain thing to be possessed of great substance, and not enjoy anything of it in a comfortable way, through the sin of covetousness; which is a spiritual disease, and a very bad one; very prejudicial to the soul, and the state of it, and is rarely cured.
Juvenal calls it frenzy and madness for a man to live poor, that be may die rich; he is like the ass that Crassus Agelastus saw, loaded with figs, and eating thorns.
Matthew Henry Commentary
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)
Eccl. 6:1-6 A man often has all he needs for outward enjoyment; yet the Lord leaves him so to covetousness or evil dispositions, that he make 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. numerous family was a matter of fond desire and of high honour amon the Hebrews; and long life is the desire of mankind in general. Eve 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 bee born for no end or use. And he who has entered on life only for on moment, to quit it the next, has a preferable lot to him who has live long, but only to suffer.
Eccl. 6:7-12 A little will serve to sustain us comfortably, and a grea deal can do no more. The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealt of the world to give satisfaction. The poor man has comfort as well a the richest, and is under no real disadvantage. We cannot say, Bette is the sight of the eyes than the resting of the soul in God; for it is better to live by faith in things to come, than to live by sense, whic dwells only upon present things. Our lot is appointed. We have what pleases God, and let that please us. The greatest possessions an honours cannot set us above the common events of human life. Seein that the things men pursue on earth increase vanities, what is man the better for his worldly devices? Our life upon earth is to be reckone by days. It is fleeting and uncertain, and with little in it to be fon of, or to be depended on. Let us return to God, trust in his merc through Jesus Christ, and submit to his will. Then soon shall we glid through this vexatious world, and find ourselves in that happy place where there is fulness of joy and pleasures for evermore __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
אישׁ 376 אשׁר 834 יתן 5414 לו האלהים 430 עשׁר 6239 ונכסים 5233 וכבוד 3519 ואיננו 369 חסר 2638 לנפשׁו 5315 מכל 3605 אשׁר 834 יתאוה 183 ולא 3808 ישׁליטנו 7980 האלהים 430 לאכל 398 ממנו 4480 כי 3588 אישׁ 376 נכרי 5237 יאכלנו 398 זה 2088 הבל 1892 וחלי 2483 רע 7451 הוא׃ 1931
