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1 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2 A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. 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. 4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. 5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? 7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8 For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. 10 That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. 11 Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? 12 For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
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[AD 270] Gregory of Neocaesarea on Ecclesiastes 6:1
Moreover, I shall exhibit in discourse the ill-fortune that most of all prevails among men. While God may supply a man with all that is according to his mind, and deprive him of no object which may in any manner appeal to his desires, whether it be wealth, or honour, or any other of those things for which men distract themselves; yet the man, while thus prospered in all things, as though the only ill inflicted on him from heaven were just the inability to enjoy them, may but husband them for his fellow, and fall without profit either to himself or to his neighbours. This I reckon to be a strong proof and clear sign of surpassing evil. The man who has borne without blame the name of father of very many children, and spent a long life, and has not had his soul filled with good for so long time, and has had no experience of death meanwhile, — this man I should not envy either his numerous offspring or his length of days; nay, I should say that the untimely birth that falls from a woman's womb is better than he. For as that came in with vanity, so it also departs secretly in oblivion, without having tasted the ills of life or looked on the sun. And this is a lighter evil than for the wicked man not to know what is good, even though he measure his life by thousands of years. And the end of both is death. The fool is proved above all things by his finding no satisfaction in any lust. But the discreet man is not held captive by these passions. Yet, for the most part, righteousness of life leads a man to poverty. And the sight of curious eyes deranges many, inflaming their mind, and drawing them on to vain pursuits by the empty desire of show. Moreover, the things which are now are known already; and it be comes apparent that than is unable to contend with those that are above him. And, verily, inanities have their course among men, which only increase the folly of those who occupy themselves with them.
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 6:1-6
"There
is an evil I have observed beneath the sun, and it is prevalent among mankind;
a man to whom God has given riches, wealth and honour, and he lacks nothing
that his heart could desire, yet God did not give him the power to enjoy it. This is futility and an evil disease. If a man begets an hundred children and lives
many years - great being the days of his life - and his soul is not content
with the good - and he even is deprived of burial; I say: the stillborn is
better off than he. Though its coming is
futile and it departs in darkness, though its very name is enveloped in
darkness, though it never saw the sun nor knew; it has more satisfaction than
he. Even if he should live a thousand
years twice over, but find no contentment - do not all go to the same
place?" He describes the riches of misers and asserts that this
evil is often in men, since none of those things, which are thought to be good
in the world, is lacking in him, and nonetheless he torments himself with the
most inane sparing, saving those things to be devoured by others. Nor does he say this in exaggeration, for
even if he produced an hundred books and lived longer than Adam, that is almost
one thousand years, but lived two thousand years, he would rot his mind with
desire and avarice. He is born
prematurely in a worse state that dies, as soon as he seems born. For he did not see evil things or good
things; but although he used to possess good things, he was tormented by
thoughts and sadness, and having been born prematurely he has more rest, than a
greedy man who is old. But both however
are seized by the same fate, while both the first and the last are taken away
by the same death. This could also refer
to Israel, because God gave Israel the law, which speaks about the prophets,
the testament, the Promised Land and the Saviour: "let the reign of God be
removed from you and given to a nation that brings forth his fruit" [Matth. 21, 43.]. All these things have been given to a foreign
and pilgrim people from peoples who see their good yet do not enjoy it. They say we are of much better condition, who
are considered to be as new-born and premature by those, who praised themselves
in antiquity, finding glory in their fathers, saying: "our father was
Abraham" [Ioh. 8, 39.],
but however both we and they hasten to one place, that is to the judgement of
God. But what Ecclesiastes says in the
middle is this: "but there was no tomb for him". This either means that that rich man does not
think of his death, and while he possesses all, is greedy even in building a
tomb; or that often he is killed on account of those riches, by plots against
his life, and is left unburied, or, what I think is a better interpretation, he
needs nothing of good deeds, from which he is able to obtain for himself memory
among those who come after him. And so
that he will not pass through life in silence, just as cattle, although he had
a means, by which he was able to show that he had lived.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on Ecclesiastes 6:2
Let none of us entertain the desire for possessions, for what gain is it to acquire those things which we cannot take with us? Why not rather acquire those that we can take: prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, understanding, charity, love of the poor, faith in Christ, gentleness, hospitality? If we obtain these, we shall find them there before us preparing a welcome for us in the land of the meek. LIFE OF ST.

Source: Life of St. Anthony 17
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Ecclesiastes 6:2
What good is there for a person in this life? He lives in darkness and cannot be satisfied in his desires. And if he is sated with riches, he loses the enjoyment of his rest, because he is forced to guard the possessions he has acquired through his wretched greed. Thus he possesses them in greater wretchedness, seeing that they can do him no good. For what is more wretched than to be tormented with guarding them and derive no advantage from their abundance?

Source: DEATH AS A GOOD 2:4
[AD 220] Tertullian on Ecclesiastes 6:7
To the corrupting power of riches [the Lord] made the enormity of voracious appetite antecedent; indeed, the former generates the latter.

Source: ON FASTING 6
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 6:7-8
"All
man's toil is for his mouth, yet his wants are never satisfied. What advantage then has the wise man over the
fool? What less has the pauper who knows
how to conduct himself among the living?
"All that men
toil at in this world is consumed by the mouth and taken to be digested in the
stomach after it has been ground down by the teeth. And when a little bit has pleased the
palette, it seems to create a desire, so long as it is held in the mouth. But when it has passed down to the stomach
the difference between foods is no longer distinguishable. And after all these things the spirit of a
man who eats is not filled up; or then he desires again what he has eaten, and
is as wise as the fool without food, who does not know how to live, and the
poor man asks for nothing else but for how he is to sustain the organs of his
meagre body, and not die through starvation.
Or because the spirit takes no gain from the food of the body, and food
is of equal use to a wise man and a fool, and the pauper wanders therefrom, to
where he has seen wealth to be. This is
better understood regarding a man of the church, who learned in the heavenly
Scriptures, holds all his toil in his mouth yet his spirit is not filled, for
he always desires to learn. And in that
respect the wise man has more than the fool, since when he feels himself to be
poor, he presses that pauper, who is called blessed in the Gospel, to
understand those things which are of life, and walks the restricted and narrow
path, which leads to life, and he is poor from wicked deeds and knows where
Christ, (who is life) is to be found.

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 6:7
Everything that human labor produces in this world is consumed by the mouth, ground by the teeth, and sent to the stomach for digestion. Even when a bite to eat delights the palate, it seems to give pleasure only for as long as it remains in the mouth, for when it passes into the belly, it can no longer be distinguished from other food. The soul of the diner is afterwards not fulfilled, because he will again desire what he has just eaten, since neither the wise nor the foolish is able to live without food, and the poor seeks nothing other than to sustain his frail body and to avoid starvation. Moreover, the soul derives no benefit from the refreshment of the body. Food is common to both the wise and the foolish, and the poor tend to go where they perceive wealth. It is better to understand this teaching as referring to the ecclesiastical person whose labor is in his mouth because he is learned in the heavenly Scriptures but whose soul is not fulfilled because he desires always to learn more.

Source: COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 6:7
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ecclesiastes 6:7
The rich man reveals the great burning in his tongue when he says, “Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, since I am tormented in this flame.” The unbelieving people keep the words of the law in their mouths but refuse to act on them. The burning will be greater in the place where they manifested that they knew what to do, but that they were unwilling to do it. Solomon said concerning those who are knowledgeable but remiss, “All the toil of a man is in his mouth, but his soul will not be filled.” Whoever labors only for this, to know what he should say, fasts with an empty heart from the nourishment that should provide him with knowledge.

Source: FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 40
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ecclesiastes 6:7
A person’s true life is not found here on earth, for he claims that it is found elsewhere. This, then, is the great advantage humankind has over the animal: The animal does not live on after death, while a person begins to live only when he has completed this visible life through bodily death.

Source: DIALOGUE 4:4
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 6:9
"Better
is what the eyes see than what is imagined.
That, too, is futility and a vexation of the spirit." Symmachus interpreted this clearly, he says: "it
is better to make provision, than to walk about as it pleases you". That is, it is better to do all things
according to what you know to be right in your mind, which is the eye of the
soul, than to follow the desire of your heart.
For this is to wander in spirit, just as Ezekiel says: "he who
walks by the desire of his heart" [Ezek. 11, 21.]. For indeed he denounced that man is proud and
only pleases himself and says he is better, who makes provision for all days,
than he, whom nothing pleases, unless he has made it himself. Nothing is worse than him, and more vane than
any breath. And again here
"vexation of the spirit" has been interpreted by Theodotion and
Aquila as 'suffering of the soul'.
Symmachus too has "affliction of the spirit". More precisely we must remember that in
Hebrew 'spirit' and 'breath' are similar in usage - that is "ruha".

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes
[AD 399] Evagrius Ponticus on Ecclesiastes 6:10
There are two sorts of names: some names designate those things which by nature have a body; others designate those which by nature are without a body. The names of those with a body designate the characteristics of such a being, such as its size, color and structure.… The names of those without a body reveal a quality of their state of existence, such as their being worthy of praise or condemnation. But if the first class of names is applied in a straightforward manner, such is not the case with the second class. [With the second class] there are two options: the being has the ability of self-determination of either to incline toward virtue and honor in its knowledge of the Creator, which is the case with angels, archangels, thrones and dominions; or to incline toward evil and increase in its ignorance of the Creator, as is the case with Satan and any other world ruler of the present darkness. …Let us not ask, “Why was I placed in this body? Or why was I not made an angel? Does not God show partiality? Do we not have free will?” All these questions simply multiply vanity. How can the creature say to its Creator, “Why did you make me like this?” Or, how can a creature answer back to God? Let all those kinds of discussions cease. Instead, let those discussions prevail which guide us towards virtue and knowledge. All that is present in this age of shadows is called vanity and shadows, and all that belongs to this life will be covered with the darkness, becoming obsolete upon departing this life.

Source: SCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 52:6.10-12
[AD 420] Jerome on Ecclesiastes 6:10
"What
has been was already named, and it is known that he is but a man. He cannot contend with one who is mightier
than him." Clearly this is predicting the arrival of
the Saviour, since he writes 'he will be'; before he was seen in body his name
was already written in the Scriptures and was known by prophets and holy men of
God, since he was a man; and similar to this, since he is a man, he is not able
to walk with his Father. And in the
Gospel it says: "the Father, who sent me, is greater than me." [Ioh. 14, 28.] In the following passages it teaches not to
ask more than is written for us by Him, so that a man may not wish to know more
than is attested in the Scriptures. For
although we are ignorant of our condition and our life passes us by like a
shadow, and our future is undecided, it is not useful for us to strive for more
than we are able to attain. Some think
that this passage means that God already knows the names of all the men, who
will be in the future, and who will be enclosed within the body of
mankind. Nor is a man able to reply to
his creator, and ask why he has been made in this way or that. For however much more we seek, our vanity and
our unnecessary words are exposed all the more.
Our choice does not come free from the foreknowledge of God, but precedes
the causes, why any one thing is done in a particular way.


<h2>CHAPTER 7</h2>

Source: Commentary on Ecclesiastes