He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. This also is vanity.
This verse looks at the thing most people build their lives around: money. The point is not that money is evil, but that loving it traps you — the more you get, the more you want.
Money itself can be a gift from God. What ruins a person is the craving attached to it. One writer traces the misery in this chapter back to a single root:
Even a king depends on the field. No amount of wealth satisfies its owner; it only falls to others. So the worker is often better off. Riches hurt instead of comfort, and they do not last, so the owner leaves as he came, naked. What is the profit of such work? God gives things as a gift, so how sad to see riches, possessions and honour with no ability to enjoy them! ... Insatiable desire ruins all.
Why does more money fail to satisfy? Each gain tightens the grip of the thing gained:
If it is money that a man covets, every dollar that he puts into his treasury only makes his heart more set upon it. Even people who did not know God had a proverb: "The love of money increases with the increase of money." And so it is. The more you succeed in getting what your heart prizes, the more it ties your heart to itself.
So the outside and the inside of a rich person can look nothing alike:
They strive for rest, but never get it. People call them rich, but they often feel very poor. Others may think them satisfied, but they know nothing of true contentment.
There is a mismatch of size. What a person collects does not last. The one collecting it does:
A man craves money and works for it as the one great good. He gets his wealth, fills his storehouse, and is still not satisfied... How can things of earth satisfy an immortal spirit? ... Riches cannot satisfy the soul. They cannot buy off death, and their owner cannot make sure of keeping them tomorrow.
Another writer imagines total success and asks what it would gain:
But suppose you reached every object you wanted and owned it all. What would you gain? Only a deeper sense that all is vanity — that no good thing on earth has the power to fill the aching emptiness inside.
Commentators give this craving a harder name. Whatever holds the heart takes the place of God, so this discontent is a spiritual problem, not just a financial one:
Whatever commands the heart is an idol. Giving your heart to that thing is idolatry, and the one who gives it is an idolater... How many hearts are commanded by money! How many worshipers bow down before the idol of gold! What is covetousness? Either a desire to get more, or the love of what we have... Whether it is the desire to grab or the desire to hoard, either way it is idolatry.
This catches two people at once: the one still climbing and the one already sitting on the pile. The verse names both — the one who loves money and the one who loves wealth.
If nothing under the sun fills the gap, the answer must come from outside it. One writer sets this verse beside Christ's offer to a woman at a well, treating that offer as the only real reply to Solomon's finding:
Satisfaction cannot be found in this world... It is a plant that does not grow out of the soil of this world. "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing" (Eccl. 1:8). "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income" (Eccl. 5:10).
To get perfect and eternal satisfaction you must drink the water that Christ gives, and it more than satisfies. Dealing with the Son of God in this way brings you into fellowship with the Son and the Father, and your satisfaction has no limits.
One writer puts the alternative in one line:
To depend in simple trust upon God alone, and be satisfied with what He gives, must be great gain indeed.
- Appetite — the fault is not in money but in loving it. As one writer puts it, insatiable desire ruins everything.
- Appetite grows — every gain tightens the hold. The love of money increases with the increase of money; more is fuel, not cure.
- Appetite misjudges — what you can own does not last, but the spirit craving it is immortal. Even total success would only deepen the emptiness.
- Appetite worships — whatever commands the heart is an idol, and this snares both the grasper who wants more and the hoarder who loves what he has.
- Appetite answered — nothing on earth grows satisfaction. Christ gives it, like living water, and it shows as trust in God and contentment with what He gives.
When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes?
A man's wealth grows, and so does the crowd that feeds on it. Solomon then asks the plain question: what does the owner himself get out of it?
One writer sees these verses as the wise king's own findings about wealth.
He speaks now of wealth and of earthly prosperity. Silver does not satisfy, nor is the man who loves abundance satisfied with the increase. It is vanity. Earthly happiness in the things under the sun is a vain hope. The wise king searched out the reasons why riches, and what goes with them, cannot give true enjoyment. He sets down the results of what he saw in these verses.
The extra mouths are only the start. One commentator follows the argument to its end: the goods do not stay with the owner at all.
Even a king depends on the field. No amount of wealth satisfies its owner; it falls to others instead. So the labourer's lot is often the better one. Riches harm a man instead of comforting him, and they do not last, so he goes as he came, naked.
If others eat the increase, the owner keeps only the sight of it. Even that can go in a moment.
A man covets wealth and works hard for it as the one great good. He gets it, fills his chests, and still finds no satisfaction... How can the things of earth satisfy an immortal spirit? He may feast his eyes on his money today, and it may vanish soon, leaving him with an heir — his own child — born to inherit poverty... Riches cannot satisfy the soul. They cannot buy off death, and their owner cannot make sure of keeping them tomorrow.
More goods bring more than extra mouths. One writer names what else fills up when a man's chests fill up.
Anxious care is the evil spirit that haunts the rich man; when his chests are full of money, his heart is full of care. Sunshine is pleasant, but sometimes it scorches. The spreading of a full table may be the spreading of a snare... If you have only daily bread enough to meet your needs, be content. Remember that having plenty does not always make life comfortable. A staff may help the traveller, but a bundle of staves will be a burden to him.
More eaters need not be a loss. Writing on the word "increase" in Proverbs, one commentator links it to honest work and to giving.
God honours hard work. Some great lords bring more honour to their rank by being real working men. Others simply live off their rank and are all too ready to boast about it. Such should every believer be, and put to shame those that eat without work! How happy too when "increase" enables one to give to the needy!
The chapter does not end there. Solomon's last word on wealth names a gift money cannot buy.
He concludes that it is good and fitting for a man to eat and drink, and to enjoy to the full the good he has gained through all the days of his life... God may give him riches and wealth, and also the capacity to enjoy them. If so, he ought to take his portion and rejoice in his work. Such a spirit of enjoyment will make him forget the evil in his day... real enjoyment is a God-acknowledging spirit.
- Increase. More goods bring more people to feed on them; the owner's own share shrinks to what his eyes can see.
- Insatiable. Silver never satisfies the man who loves it. The things of earth cannot fill an immortal spirit.
- Insecure. Wealth can vanish overnight, cannot buy off death, and leaves its holder as naked as he came.
- Inside. Full chests mean a heart full of care — a staff helps a traveller, but a bundle of staves is a burden.
- Instead. The gift worth having is not the wealth. It is the God-given capacity to enjoy your portion, and increase that lets you give to the needy.
The sleep of the labourer is sweet, whether he have eaten little or much; but the fulness of the rich doth not suffer him to sleep.
Solomon watches two men lie down at the end of a day: one has worked with his hands and sleeps soundly, the other has plenty and lies awake. The verse asks why more does not buy rest.
The verse sits in a longer survey of money and possessions. One writer follows that survey through to its end.
No amount of wealth satisfies its owner. It falls to other people instead. So the working man's lot is often the better one. Riches are a hurt instead of a comfort, and they do not last, so a man goes out as he came in, naked. Where is the profit of such labour? A man may receive things from God as His gift. How sad then to see riches, possessions and honour, and no capacity to enjoy them!
Solomon is not guessing. One writer notes that the king searched the matter out for himself.
He speaks now of wealth and of earthly prosperity. Silver does not satisfy, and the one who loves abundance is not satisfied with the increase. It is vanity. Earthly happiness in the things under the sun is a vain hope. The wise king searched out the reasons why riches, and what goes along with them, cannot give true enjoyment, and he sets down his findings in these verses.
The verse does not say the rich man is guilty; it says his fullness will not let him sleep. Something comes along with the money and takes the pillow.
Prosperity often deafens the ear against God. Soft pleasures harden the heart. Prosperity has its honey, and also its sting. Anxious care is the evil spirit that haunts the rich man; when his chests are full of money, his heart is full of care. Sunshine is pleasant, but sometimes it scorches. The spreading of a full table may be the spreading of a snare. If we have less food, we have less snare; if less dignity, less danger. It is not having abundance that always makes life comfortable. A staff may help the traveller, but a bundle of staves will be a burden to him.
The same writer explains why wealth wounds twice over, once on the way in and once on the way out.
As riches are compared to "wind" to show their emptiness (Hosea 12:1), so to "thorns," to show how they vex (Matthew 13:22). Thorns are no more likely to tear our clothes than riches are to tear our hearts. They are thorns in the gathering; they prick with care. They pierce the hand with the care of getting, and they wound the heart with the fear of losing.
The poor man's peace is not a consolation prize. Having less removes what the rich man must guard.
The richest and wisest of men was the right man to tell people how wrong they are when they count riches to be happiness. Riches make a man envied and plotted against. So a rich man's life, even if otherwise well spent, is exposed to dangers and deceits. That brings no little unease to a sensitive man. What a sad use of riches, to be the ransom of one's life! Here at least the poor man lives in peace.
And the work that earns that sleep is not only a judgment.
It is mercy, as well as judgment, that a man is to eat bread by the sweat of his face. Not only labour, but sorrow and suffering, are better than sin. Pride, plenty of food and careless ease lead to ruin and judgment. Hard work brings in much increase, using means such as the strength of the ox.
One commentator, writing on the promise that God gives His beloved sleep, reads sleep as a picture of rest of heart. He then shows where that rest comes from.
The clear contrast is between getting something by our own efforts and looking for it and receiving it as God's gift... Men commonly try to gain the means of ease, retirement and enjoyment by their own painful and tireless labours. We conclude, then, that sleep must be taken in the symbolic sense of rest and repose of spirit. Taken this way, everything is plain. Our own toil can never win quiet of mind and restful enjoyment. God is the giver of all repose to His beloved. Once they accept this simple truth, they leave off worry and anxious labour, and God keeps them in perfect peace, with their minds resting on Him.
- Sweet. The working man sleeps well whether he eats little or much — his rest does not depend on the size of the meal.
- Sleepless. Wealth arrives with a companion: care that pricks the hand in the getting and wounds the heart with the fear of losing.
- Safer. Having less removes what a man must guard. The rich man is envied and plotted against, while "here at least the poor man lives in peace."
- Mercy. Eating bread by the sweat of your face is mercy as well as judgment; ease and plenty lead to ruin, while hard work brings increase.
- Gift. Tireless work never earns real rest of spirit. God gives it to His beloved.
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt;
Solomon calls this a sickening wrong, and he says he watched it happen. A man guards his wealth, and the guarding is what damages him. Two questions follow. How can a good thing turn against its owner? And what is money for?
The book records what one man found after testing wealth to its limits. That is why his verdict carries weight. Note also the angle he writes from: life measured only by what happens on earth.
Solomon is the writer. He goes through his experience of wisdom, of riches, of labour, and of everything his heart as a man could desire (and who can come after the king?). He records it by inspiration. So when he proves it all to be nothing but emptiness and a chasing after wind, it is not the mere words of a disappointed man, but a conviction God has recorded. One mark runs through all the actions in the book: they happen "under the sun," with no thought of doing them toward God.
Wealth is not evil in itself. It has a real use, yet it keeps failing the man who leans on it. That failure runs into the next verse: the fortune goes, and the son inherits nothing.
He speaks of wealth. It has its use. Money is a defence (Ecc. 7:12); it is God's gift. Yet how often men feel how empty it all is. Craved and worked for as the one great good, the man gets wealth, fills his coffers, and is still unsatisfied. If he loves silver, he will not be satisfied with it (Ecc. 5:10). How can things of earth satisfy a spirit that lives forever? If he feasts his eyes on his money today, it may vanish shortly, and he is left with an heir — his own child — born to inherit poverty (vv. 13, 14).
The verse turns on one word: kept. The owner holds his riches, and they do the opposite of what he expected.
No amount of resources satisfies the man who owns them; they fall to others instead. So the labourer's lot is often the better one, and riches turn out to be a hurt instead of a comfort, with no permanence either, so that he goes as he came, naked. Where is the profit of such work?
People who hoard often say it is not for themselves but for their children. One writer answers that, and warns what an inheritance can do to a child.
People will build and hoard, if not for themselves, then at least for their children — or in other words, their second selves. If I hoard for my children, I am hoarding for myself. And in countless cases the hoard proves a positive curse to the child instead of a blessing. It takes him off the ground God appointed for him and for everyone in His moral government: "doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something" — not to hoard for himself or for his second self, but — "to share with anyone in need."
A fortune can survive bad business. It still stops at the grave.
Augustine said, "God does not wish a man to lose his riches, but only to change their place." … A man was speaking of an American millionaire who had just died. He asked his friend there, "How much did he leave?" "Every dollar!" was the reply.
The chapter does not end in despair. A few verses later it puts money back in its place — a gift to receive and enjoy, not to guard.
If God has given a man riches and wealth and the capacity to enjoy them, then he should take his portion and rejoice in his work. Such a spirit of enjoyment will make him forget the evil in his day; it will carry him over the disagreeable things of life. "For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God answers him in the joy of his heart" [older wording; the ESV reads, "because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart"]. That last phrase means that God Himself matches his joy, for real enjoyment is a God-acknowledging spirit.
There is one more step. What you cannot keep here, you can send ahead.
The things you have here are your Master's goods. If you hoard them up here, you will surely lose them in the world to come, and you turn them into accusers. On the other hand, God graciously allows you to truly transfer them to your own account, by laying them up among your treasure, where your treasure is "in heaven."
- Kept — nobody steals this wealth and nobody wastes it. The owner holds it, and the holding is what harms him.
- Hurt — riches become "a hurt instead of a comfort." They do not last, they satisfy nobody, and they end up with somebody else.
- Lost — the fortune can vanish, leaving a child born to poverty. A fortune that survives still stays behind at death — "every dollar."
- Given — when God gives riches and the capacity to enjoy them, they are a man's portion. He should take it, enjoy his work, and acknowledge God.
- Sent ahead — hoard your Master's goods here and you lose them later, and they accuse you. Lay them up in heaven and they go to your own account.
or those riches perish by some evil circumstance, and if he have begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.
Solomon watches a man's fortune vanish in one bad venture, and his son inherits nothing. If wealth can go before anyone inherits it, what was all the work for?
Money has its uses, but it never fills the man who chases it. One writer traces where that chase ends:
Of wealth he speaks. It has its use. Money is a defence; it is God's gift; yet how often do men feel the emptiness of it all. He covets wealth and toils after it as the one great good. He gets it and fills his coffers, and still he is not satisfied. If childless, he may desire offspring, but children are God's gift, not to be purchased by money. If he loves silver, he will not be satisfied with it. How can things of earth really satisfy an immortal spirit? He may feast his eyes on his money today, and it may be gone soon. Then he is left with an heir — his own child — born to inherit poverty.
The verse names both losses: the riches are gone, and the son has nothing in his hand.
Nothing a man gathers stays with him. It falls to others, and he leaves the world as he entered it.
Even a king depends on the field. No amount of wealth satisfies its owner. It falls to others instead. So the labourer's lot is often better, and riches are a hurt instead of a comfort. They do not last either, and a man goes out as he came in, naked. Where is the profit of such labour?
Wealth is uncertain, and so is the heart that chases it. One writer calls that chase the deeper danger:
More insidious and absorbing is the danger of seeking and setting the mind on being rich. Here you do not just guard against appetite. You have to stop leaning on your own understanding, which is so ready to find good reasons for an evil and selfish thing. The Apostle says that those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, even if they avoid crooked paths to it. They fall into many unwise and hurtful desires, and these plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of every evil. Some who have reached after it have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So two things stand out sharply: riches are uncertain, and we trust ourselves far too much. Our wisdom is to set our mind on the eternal weight of glory where Christ is. We are not to look at the things that are seen. They pass quickly, while the unseen things are eternal.
The son in this verse ends up with nothing in his hand. God holds out an inheritance of a different kind:
God, not man, knows what is good for him. And God reveals an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven. But until Christ died and rose, it stayed largely hidden. Misery here was plain, especially to the wise.
Solomon could see the problem. The answer had not yet come to light. For the believer now, two kinds of wealth sit side by side, and only one of them goes with you:
Christians have riches that go far beyond earthly ones. God has given us spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. These are heavenly in nature, so we will enjoy them fully in heaven, but we can also enjoy them down here now. In contrast, we will have to leave our money and possessions here; in fact we have to leave them here.
So what should a person do with money while he still has it? The answer is not to despise wealth, but to put your trust somewhere else:
It takes constant exercise to keep trusting the Living God, who richly gives us all things to enjoy. If this trust is real, it will reflect His own character of unselfish giving. They were to do positive good with what they had. Let them be rich in good works, not just in possessions. Let them be ready to give whenever there is need, and glad to share what God has entrusted to them. This is true investment, a laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come.
- Uncertain. Wealth can perish while the owner still lives, leaving an heir "born to inherit poverty."
- Unsatisfying. Riches never settle the heart. They fall to others, and the owner leaves the world as he entered it.
- Dangerous. The desire to be rich is a snare that has made some "wander from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows."
- Unreachable. God keeps an inheritance that is "imperishable, undefiled, and unfading" in heaven, where no bad venture can reach it.
- Useful. Trust the living God, be "rich in good works," and treat giving as "true investment" — wealth sent on ahead of you.
As he came forth from his mother's womb, naked shall he go away again as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
Solomon has been weighing what riches are worth in the end. Here he sets the two ends of a life side by side, and asks what a man carries through either one.
A man leaves the world in the same state he entered it. One writer sets out what death does, and who it does it to.
What a trouble death is — an unwelcome visitor whom no one can keep out of his house. It comes uninvited. It comes at a time man thinks is all wrong, and it strips its victim of everything… Whatever his position on earth, all go at last to one place: the rich, the poor, the wise, the fool, the righteous, the wicked. Death, the great leveller of all ranks, reduces man to a level below himself, even to that of the beasts.
Ecclesiastes does not stop to explain where death came from.
Death is the wages of sin; but it is not viewed in this way in Ecclesiastes. Solomon does not dwell on the reason it entered the world. He dwells on its presence here, as a worm at the root of the tree of pleasure. It spoils pleasure and chills enjoyment. It cuts man off just when he would sit down, after years of hard work, to reap the fruit of his labour.
The verse does not say riches are worthless. It says they cannot follow their owner.
Money has its use. It is a defence; it is God's gift; yet how often men feel the emptiness of it all. A man wants wealth and works hard for it as the one great good; he gets it, fills his coffers, and is still unsatisfied. If he has prospered to the last, and his riches have not flown away, he must still leave them. As he entered the world, so must he leave it. Death summons him, but not his goods with him. All that he has stays behind him, while he, naked as he entered the world, passes out of it through the door of death. Riches cannot satisfy the soul. They cannot buy off death. Their owner cannot even be sure of keeping them tomorrow.
One writer sums up the chapter's whole account of wealth in a few lines.
No resources satisfy the one who owns them; they fall to others. So the labourer's lot is often better. Riches are a hurt instead of a comfort, and they do not last — and so he goes as he came, naked. Where is the profit of such labour?
If we can carry nothing out, is there anything we never have to leave? One writer points to an inheritance death cannot touch.
God has not promised His heavenly saints earthly possessions. Everything we own now must be given up, but the heavenly inheritance will be ours forever. We have been called to have part with Christ in all that shall be His in the coming day. He is the Heir of all, and we are God's joint-heirs along with Christ, in the riches of His grace.
Paul presses the same fact on believers as a rule to live by.
Paul drives this home with the plain facts of man's beginning and end here below. They are all the more striking for being plain. Everyone can see them, but only men of faith act on them… The words turn man's entrance into the world with nothing into a solemn reminder that it will be the same at the close. So this two-fold truth is meant to bear on the believer all through his course.
The gap between knowing this and living by it is the real problem.
We often live and act as if our material possessions had been ours for hundreds of years. We live as if our existence, our success and our happiness depended on our wealth. How short-sighted we often are!
- Enter empty. Every person arrives with nothing. The verse sets birth and death side by side and shows them matching.
- Hold loosely. The danger is not owning things but leaning on them. We live as if wealth had always been ours, and as if our happiness rested on it.
- Leave empty. Death comes uninvited and at the wrong moment. It strips its victim of everything, and it levels rich and poor, wise and foolish alike.
- Labour for the wind. Money cannot satisfy the soul or buy off death. It may not even last until tomorrow. Riches can become a hurt instead of a comfort.
- Inherit forever. We must let go of everything we hold here. The inheritance kept in heaven for joint-heirs with Christ is ours forever.
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind?
A man leaves the world exactly as he entered it, with nothing. So what did he gain by working for wind? The verse raises two questions. Why does death empty a life so fully? And is there any profit death cannot take?
One writer shows how unwelcome death is, and how it levels every rank.
What a trouble death is — an unwelcome visitor no one can keep out of the house. It comes without invitation. It comes at the wrong time in man's eyes. It strips its victim of everything… Whatever his position on earth, all go at last to one place. The rich, the poor, the wise, the fool, the righteous, the wicked all end up with the stillborn child who never saw the sun.
The book does not treat death here as the penalty for sin, though that is true elsewhere. It looks at death from this side of the grave, as the thing that spoils the harvest of a lifetime.
Death is the wages of sin, but Ecclesiastes does not look at it that way here. Solomon does not dwell on how death entered the world. He dwells on its presence now, like a worm at the root of the tree of pleasure. It spoils pleasure and chills enjoyment. It cuts a man off just as he sits down, after years of hard work, to enjoy the fruit of his labour… To man, feeling the results of the fall, death is the great spoiler, destroying all his hopes.
Wind cannot be held. Money is real and useful, yet it fails a man twice. It never fills his soul, and it cannot follow him past death.
Money is a protection; it is God's gift. Yet how often men feel how empty it all is. A man craves wealth, works for it as the one great good, gets it, fills his money chest — and is still not satisfied… How can the things of earth satisfy a spirit that lives for ever?… Death calls him away, but not his goods. All he has stays behind, and he leaves the world as naked as he entered it. Riches cannot satisfy the soul. They cannot buy off death. And their owner cannot be sure of keeping them tomorrow.
The verse sits inside a larger argument. Chapter 5 starts with God's rights and moves on to wealth that no one keeps.
The first of all rights is that God should have His. All is wrong when God is left out, and this is the root of the misery in man and in the world… No wealth satisfies its owner; it falls to others instead. The working man's lot is often better. Riches harm a man instead of comforting him, and they do not last, so he goes as he came, naked. Where is the profit of such labour?… God, not man, knows what is good for him, and God reveals an inheritance that cannot perish.
Job met this loss with worship instead of complaint. Nothing had been his by right, so he looked past what was taken to the God who gave.
He acknowledges that nothing was his by right; he had come into the world naked, and would leave it as he came. "We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world" (1 Tim. 6:7). But he turns from the stroke to the Hand that gave it. He looks past everything that had a hand in it, human or supernatural, and lays his sorrow at the Lord's feet. "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."
If nothing can be carried out, the only wealth worth having is wealth already stored where you are going.
Everything a man owns in this world must be given up sooner or later. If he does not lose it during his life, he must let it go when death comes. Only the treasure stored up in heaven is still ours when we leave this world behind. A man may be poor in this world's goods and very rich in heavenly treasure. Another may be rich in earthly possessions and have no heavenly riches at all.
And the life that Ecclesiastes measures in days and shadows is not the last word on life itself:
What a contrast there is between this life of "days" and "vanity" and "shadow" and the eternal life now given in Christ to the believer… But all this was hidden then. Now Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
- Cause — Leave God out and all is wrong. That is the root of the misery, and no amount of wealth satisfies its owner.
- Strip — Death comes uninvited, at a time no one chooses, and takes everything. It levels rich and poor, wise and fool alike.
- Wind — Money is real and useful. It still cannot fill the soul, buy off death, or be counted on tomorrow.
- Response — Job lost all and worshipped. Nothing was his by right, so he blessed the Hand that gave and took away.
- Profit — Only treasure stored in heaven outlasts death. Christ answers a life of shadows with life eternal.
All his days also he eateth in darkness, and hath much vexation, and sickness, and irritation.
This verse closes a bleak portrait. A man loses his wealth, leaves the world as empty-handed as he entered it, and spends his whole life eating in the dark. Why does money promise light and deliver gloom? And is there a way out?
The line ends a chapter-long argument about wealth. One commentator follows that argument from the king at the top to the man who dies with nothing:
A king depends on the field. No resources satisfy the owner; they fall to others instead. So the labourer's lot is often better. Riches are a hurt instead of a comfort, and they do not last, so he goes as he came, naked. Where is the profit of such labour? When a man receives things from God as His gift, how sad to see riches, possessions and honour, with no power to enjoy them!
Eating in darkness is not about lack of food. The man has the gift and no power to enjoy it.
Ecclesiastes keeps repeating the phrase "under the sun." That phrase explains the gloom of this verse:
Another phrase we notice is "under the sun." It occurs twenty-nine times in this book. What is "under the sun" is on the earth. Above the sun there is, of course, something else: heaven, the heavenly things… The book describes the things under the sun. It shows that all a man does — his pursuits, his labours, whatever he undertakes and all that goes with it — is nothing but vanity and a chasing after wind. It never satisfies, and it is full of sorrow and perplexity.
The man in this passage is not eating in the dark because he is poor. He is in the dark because what he owns cannot feed the soul, and cannot hold off the day he must leave it all:
The man wants wealth and works for it as the one great good. He gets it, fills his money boxes, and is still not satisfied… How can things of earth satisfy an immortal spirit? And if he prospers to the end, and his riches have not fled away, he must still leave them. As he entered the world, so must he leave it. Death summons him, but not his goods with him… Riches cannot satisfy the soul. They cannot buy off death, and their owner cannot guarantee keeping them for tomorrow.
The verse names three companions of the darkness. One writer shows how riches produce that pain at both ends — in the getting and in the keeping:
Things which vex more than they comfort cannot make a man blessed; but such are all things under the sun. Riches are called "wind" to show how empty they are, and "thorns" to show how they vex. Thorns are no more likely to tear our clothes than riches are to tear our hearts. They are thorns while you gather them; they prick with care. As they pierce the hand with the care of getting, so they wound the heart with the fear of losing.
The Preacher does not leave the reader in the dark. Immediately after this verse he sets out a different way to hold the same food, the same work, the same years — as something handed to you:
He concludes that it is good and fitting for a person to eat and drink, and then to enjoy to the fullest the good he has gained. That is for all the days of his life — the life and length of days the Creator gave him. And if God has given him riches and wealth and the capacity to enjoy them, he ought to take his portion and rejoice in his labour. Such a spirit of enjoyment will make him forget the evil in his day. It will carry him over the unpleasant things of life.
Ecclesiastes measures life in days, vanity and shadow. One writer sets that against what Christ has now brought to light:
What a contrast this life of "days" and "vanity" and "shadow" is with life eternal! That life is now given in Christ to the believer. With it comes the bright hope of being with Him who is its source and fullness. Where He is, we shall have its perfect, unhindered growth and display in its proper heavenly place. But all was veiled then. Now Christ has brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel.
- Cause — under the sun. This darkness belongs to life lived under the sun. Everything on earth, chased for itself, ends in vanity, never satisfying and full of sorrow.
- Cost — thorns. Riches prick the hand in the getting. They wound the heart with the fear of losing. That is where the vexation, sickness and anger come from.
- Limit — the coffin. Wealth cannot satisfy an immortal spirit. It cannot buy off death, and no owner can be sure of keeping it until tomorrow.
- Gift — the portion. The same bread and the same work turn into joy when received from God as His gift, along with the capacity to enjoy them.
- Light — above the sun. Life eternal in Christ answers the days, vanity and shadow. Christ has brought that life to light through the gospel.