A Man Who Cannot Enjoy
1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy on men: 2 a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease. 3 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; 4 for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5 Moreover it has not seen the sun nor known it. This has rest rather than the other. 6 Yes, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet fails to enjoy good, don’t all go to one place? 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. 10 Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he. 11 For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man? 12 For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spends like a shadow? For who can tell a man what will be after him under the sun?
Three verses after calling the power to enjoy wealth God's gift, the book describes a man given the wealth and denied the power.
Verse 2 is the exact inverse of what stood three verses earlier, and the pairing is the chapter's argument. There, God gave riches and has given him power to eat of it, and that was the gift of God Ecclesiastes 5:19. Here God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing, and then gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it.
Same giver, same goods, one faculty withheld. The book calls it an evil disease, and the diagnosis is the point: enjoyment is not a by-product of having. It is separately given, and its absence is a sickness rather than an attitude problem.
Verses 3 to 6 push it to the limit with a man who has everything the ancient world counted: a hundred children, long years, and — the one dishonor added — no burial. Against him is set a stillborn child, which never saw the sun and has rest rather than the other.
That is the harshest comparison in the book, and its ground is stated: the man's soul is not filled with good. Length without enjoyment is what makes the shorter life preferable, and verse 6 doubles the years to make sure the point is not about duration — a thousand years twice told, and still don't all go to one place?
Verse 7 states the trap in one line: all the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. Everything anyone does is, at bottom, feeding — and the mechanism does not close.
Verse 9 answers with a proverb about attention: better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. What is in front of a person, rather than what is imagined beyond him.
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