1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Ecclesiastes 6:1 | There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and that frequent among men: | |
| Ecclesiastes 6:2 | A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and honour, and his soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up. This is vanity and a great misery. | Thereof. "Di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi." (Horace, 1:Ep. 4.) --- The proper use of riches is rare. (Calmet) --- Misery. Riches do not make people happy. (Worthington) |
| Ecclesiastes 6:3 | If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely born is better than he. | Than he, since the latter has injured no one, nor experienced any evil in the world, (Calmet) by his own fault; (Menochius) whereas the miser has both hurt himself and others, and has neglected to make himself friends of the mammon of iniquity. |
| Ecclesiastes 6:4 | For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten. | He. The infant, though some explain it of the miser. (Calmet) |
| Ecclesiastes 6:5 | He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil: | |
| Ecclesiastes 6:6 | Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed good things: do not all make haste to one place? | |
| Ecclesiastes 6:7 | All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be filled. | Mouth. We are always providing food. (St. Jerome) --- The rich are wholly bent on pleasure; or the poor cannot get a sufficiency. |
| Ecclesiastes 6:8 | What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor man, but to go thither, where there is life? | Life. The wise poor shall be blessed. Hebrew, "the poor knowing how to walk before the living," (Haydock) in society (Calmet) among the saints. (Haydock) |
| Ecclesiastes 6:9 | Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of spirit. | Know. Enjoyment has the advantage over hope. Hebrew, "better is the sight of the eyes than the going of the soul," which denotes her desires. (Calmet) --- Presumption. Hebrew, "vexation." (Haydock) |
| Ecclesiastes 6:10 | *He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known that he is man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is stronger than himself. 1 Kings 13:14.; 3 Kings 13:2. | He, etc. This is plainly spoken of Christ, whose name was given before he was born; (St. Jerome; Worthington) or men resemble each other in all ages, (chap. 1:9.; Calmet) being proud, fragile, etc. |
| Ecclesiastes 6:11 | There are many words that have much vanity in disputing. | Disputing. Are we better acquainted with nature than former ages? This is another subject of confusion. (Calmet) |