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“The Vanity and Peril of Riches”· Ecclesiastes 5:10–17
Translation
King James Version
The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
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KJV (with Strong's)
The sleep H8142 of a labouring man H5647 is sweet H4966, whether he eat H398 little H4592 or much H7235: but the abundance H7647 of the rich H6223 will not suffer H3240 him to sleep H3462.
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Complete Jewish Bible
The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the overfullness of the rich won't let them sleep at all.
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Berean Standard Bible
The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
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American Standard Version
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
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World English Bible Messianic
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
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Geneva Bible (1599)
There is an euill sickenes that I haue seene vnder the sunne: to wit, riches reserued to the owners thereof for their euill.
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Young's Literal Translation
Sweet is the sleep of the labourer whether he eat little or much; and the sufficiency of the wealthy is not suffering him to sleep.
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In the KJVVerse 17,410 of 31,102 · 56.0%

Study This Verse

Summary

Ecclesiastes 5:12 masterfully contrasts the peaceful, restorative sleep of a diligent worker with the restless anxiety often experienced by the exceedingly wealthy. It posits a profound paradox: genuine contentment and undisturbed rest are not found in the accumulation of material possessions, but rather in honest labor and a simpler existence, revealing that the very abundance people strive for can become the source of their deepest disquiet and lack of peace.

Context

Literary Context

This verse is strategically placed within Qoheleth's broader discourse (Ecclesiastes 5-6) on the vanity and vexation inherent in human pursuits "under the sun," particularly the relentless quest for wealth and its perceived benefits. Following his warnings against thoughtless vows and the oppression of the poor (Ecclesiastes 5:1-9), the Preacher pivots to the insatiable nature of money and its ultimate failure to bring true satisfaction (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11). Ecclesiastes 5:12 serves as a vivid, tangible illustration of this futility, providing a direct example of how material prosperity can ironically undermine fundamental human well-being. It acts as a poignant counterpoint to the common assumption that greater possessions equate to greater peace, setting the stage for further reflections on the transient and often burdensome nature of riches in the subsequent verses (Ecclesiastes 5:13-20).

Historical & Cultural Context

In ancient Israel, as in most pre-industrial societies, physical labor was the bedrock of daily life for the vast majority of the population. A "labouring man" (Hebrew: H5647 ʻâbad) would typically be an agricultural worker, artisan, or common laborer whose livelihood was directly tied to their physical exertion. Sleep was not merely a luxury but a vital necessity for recovery from strenuous work, often performed under challenging conditions. Wealth, conversely, was concentrated among a small elite—royalty, nobles, merchants, and large landowners. While wealth was generally viewed as a divine blessing, Qoheleth consistently challenges this simplistic perspective, exposing the potential for riches to become a snare. The cultural understanding of the time would have readily acknowledged the common person's deep need for rest and the relative simplicity of their lives compared to the complex affairs, responsibilities, and anxieties that frequently accompanied significant property and influence.

Key Themes

Ecclesiastes 5:12 significantly contributes to several overarching themes woven throughout the book. Firstly, it powerfully reinforces the theme of Vanity and Futility (hebel), demonstrating that material prosperity, though ardently desired, frequently fails to deliver genuine satisfaction or inner peace. Instead, it can breed worry and sleeplessness, vividly illustrating the emptiness of chasing earthly gain, a concept introduced early in the book (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Secondly, the verse highlights the Blessing of Contentment and Simple Pleasures, suggesting that true well-being is found not in abundance but in the capacity to enjoy the fruits of one's labor and to rest peacefully, irrespective of one's material possessions (Ecclesiastes 2:24). Thirdly, it subtly but sharply critiques the Deceitfulness of Riches, illustrating how wealth can promise security and comfort yet deliver anxiety and unrest, a warning echoed throughout biblical wisdom literature, cautioning against the futility of toiling for riches (Proverbs 23:4-5).

Exposition and Analysis

Key Word Analysis

Sleep shênâh' H8142

From H8142, this noun refers to the state of slumber or rest. In the context of the "labouring man," it denotes a deep, restorative, and untroubled repose, a natural consequence of physical exertion and perhaps a clear conscience. For the rich, the absence of this "sleep" points to a profound internal disquiet, a lack of peace that even immense material comfort cannot alleviate.

Sweet mâthôwq' H4966

From H4966, this adjective describes the delightful quality of the laborer's sleep. It implies not merely the presence of sleep, but its pleasant, refreshing, and satisfying nature. It is a sleep that genuinely restores and brings joy, underscoring the qualitative difference in rest experienced by the two contrasting figures.

Abundance sâbâʻ' H7647

From H7647, this term denotes copiousness, fullness, or plenty. It refers to the rich man's overflowing possessions and material prosperity. Ironically, this very "abundance," which one might expect to bring comfort and security, is precisely what "will not suffer him to sleep," becoming a source of anxiety and unrest rather than peace.

Verse Breakdown

"The sleep of a labouring man [is] sweet"

This opening clause introduces the first subject, the "labouring man," whose physical exertion and honest toil lead to a profound and satisfying rest. The word "sweet" emphasizes the delightful quality of this sleep—it is not merely sleep, but a truly refreshing and restorative experience, a natural and earned reward for his efforts, suggesting a deep contentment derived from his work.

"whether he eat little or much"

This sub-clause further underscores the laborer's contentment and the internal source of his peace. His ability to sleep soundly is not contingent upon the quantity of his sustenance or his material possessions. Whether his meals are meager or plentiful, his rest remains undisturbed, highlighting that his peace is internal and not tied to external circumstances or consumption.

"but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep"

This concluding clause presents a stark and powerful contrast. The "rich" man, despite his "abundance" (his great wealth and possessions), is denied the simple blessing of peaceful sleep. The phrase "will not suffer him to sleep" (derived from H3240 yânach, meaning to allow to stay or permit) indicates that his wealth actively prevents him from resting. This is often due to the anxieties of managing, protecting, or increasing his riches, or perhaps the insatiable desire for more, which collectively rob him of inner peace.

Literary Devices

Ecclesiastes 5:12 masterfully employs Antithesis to highlight its central message. The verse is meticulously structured around a direct contrast between two distinct figures: the "labouring man" and the "rich." This fundamental opposition is further emphasized by contrasting their experiences of sleep: the laborer's sleep is described as "sweet," while the rich man's "abundance will not suffer him to sleep." This creates a powerful rhetorical effect, underscoring the paradox that material wealth, often pursued as the ultimate source of security and comfort, can ironically lead to profound anxiety and unrest, whereas a simpler, laborious life can yield genuine peace and contentment. The pervasive Irony is also prominent, as the very thing that should provide comfort and security (abundance) becomes the direct source of discomfort and sleeplessness.

Theological and Thematic Connections

This verse resonates deeply with biblical wisdom concerning wealth, labor, and contentment. Qoheleth's observation aligns with a broader scriptural caution against the deceptive nature of riches, which frequently promise security and satisfaction but often deliver anxiety, spiritual barrenness, and a restless spirit. True rest and peace are presented not as outcomes of material accumulation but as divine gifts, frequently associated with a life of diligent work and profound trust in God, irrespective of one's economic standing. The ability to sleep soundly serves as a potent metaphor for a tranquil soul, unburdened by covetousness or the anxieties of possession, emphasizing that true well-being transcends material circumstances.

Reflection and Application

In a contemporary world that often equates success with relentless material accumulation and financial prowess, Ecclesiastes 5:12 stands as a timeless and profoundly counter-cultural challenge. It compels us to critically examine our deepest priorities: are we inadvertently pursuing "abundance" at the expense of our peace, our physical and mental health, and our capacity for genuine rest? The verse invites us to contemplate the profound satisfaction that emanates from honest labor and a truly contented spirit, reminding us that authentic well-being is not measured by the size of our bank account or the extent of our possessions, but by the quality of our rest and the tranquility of our minds. It encourages us to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude for simple blessings and to find joy and peace in the present moment, rather than being perpetually driven by an insatiable desire for more, which often leads to an endless cycle of anxiety and dissatisfaction. Ultimately, this passage calls us to trust God for our provision, thereby liberating us from the heavy burden of self-reliance and the ceaseless, often futile, pursuit of earthly treasures that can never deliver true and lasting peace.

Questions for Reflection

  1. What specific anxieties or burdens does the pursuit or possession of wealth currently bring into my life?
  2. How does my current lifestyle and daily choices reflect a genuine valuing of "sweet sleep" and contentment over the relentless pursuit of "abundance"?
  3. In what practical ways can I cultivate a deeper sense of peace, trust, and gratitude, regardless of my material circumstances or financial standing?
  4. How can I find greater satisfaction and purpose in my daily labor, viewing it as a means to a peaceful and God-honoring life rather than merely a path to acquiring more possessions?

FAQ

Does this verse condemn wealth itself, or the pursuit of it?

This verse does not inherently condemn wealth itself, but rather highlights the potential negative consequences and anxieties that can accompany its accumulation, especially when it becomes the primary focus and source of security in one's life. The core issue is not wealth in a neutral sense, but the "abundance of the rich" that actively prevents sleep, implying that the attachment to wealth, the worry over its preservation, the insatiable desire for more, or the burden of managing it is what robs one of peace. Scripture frequently warns against the love of money, which is identified as a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). The powerful contrast drawn between the peaceful rest of the laborer and the restlessness of the wealthy suggests that true contentment and tranquility are not found in material possessions but in a different kind of "riches"—those of the spirit and a life lived in proper perspective.

Christ-Centered Fulfillment

Ecclesiastes 5:12, with its stark contrast between the restless rich and the peacefully sleeping laborer, finds profound Christ-centered fulfillment in the person, teachings, and very life of Jesus. Jesus consistently taught against the accumulation of earthly treasures, which are inherently perishable and vulnerable to loss, urging His followers instead to lay up treasures in heaven, where they are eternally secure (Matthew 6:19-21). He famously warned that it is exceedingly difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, not because wealth is inherently evil, but because it so often becomes an idol, a misplaced source of trust and security that supplants God Himself (Matthew 19:23-24). Christ Himself, though the Lord of all creation, embraced a life of humble service and had "nowhere to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20), embodying the "labouring man" who finds ultimate rest not in possessions but in fulfilling the Father's will. He offers a profound peace that the world, with all its material abundance, cannot give—a peace that transcends circumstances and is not dependent on fleeting earthly wealth (John 14:27). The "sweet sleep" of the laborer prefigures the true spiritual rest found in Christ, who graciously invites all who are weary and burdened by the anxieties of life to come to Him and find genuine rest for their souls (Matthew 11:28-30). Ultimately, the fulfillment of this verse lies in the recognition that true security, lasting peace, and eternal rest are found not in the fleeting and often anxiety-inducing pursuit of worldly wealth, but in a vibrant, trusting relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

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Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry comments on passages, not single verses — this entry covers Ecclesiastes 5:9–17. His three-level outline is real structure in the source text, so it is rendered as structure.

1662–1714 · 9 verses
Passage under commentEcclesiastes 5:9–17
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details

Solomon had shown the vanity of pleasure, gaiety, and fine works, of honour, power, and royal dignity; and there is many a covetous worldling that will agree with him, and speak as slightly as he does of these things; but money, he thinks, is a substantial thing, and if he can but have enough of that he is happy. This is the mistake which Solomon attacks, and attempts to rectify, in these verses; he shows that there is as much vanity in great riches, and the lust of the eye about them, as there is in the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life, and a man can make himself no more happy by hoarding an estate than by spending it.

I.He grants that the products of the earth, for the support and comfort of human life, are valuable things (Ecc 5:9):

The profit of the earth is for all. Man's body, being made of the earth, thence has its maintenance (Job 28:5); and that it has so, and that a barren land is not made his dwelling (as he has deserved for being rebellious, Psa 68:6), is an instance of God's great bounty to him. There is profit to be got out of the earth, and it is for all; all need it; it is appointed for all; there is enough for all. It is not only for all men, but for all the inferior creatures; the same ground brings grass for the cattle that brings herbs for the service of men. Israel had bread from heaven, angels' food, but (which is a humbling consideration) the earth is our storehouse and the beasts are fellow-commoners with us. The king himself is served of the field, and would be ill served, would be quite starved, without its products. This puts a great honour upon the husbandman's calling, that it is the most necessary of all to the support of man's life. The many have the benefit of it; the mighty cannot live without it; it is for all; it is for the king himself. Those that have an abundance of the fruits of the earth must remember they are for all, and therefore must look upon themselves but as stewards of their abundance, out of which they must give to those that need. Dainty meats and soft clothing are only for some, but the fruit of the earth is for all. And even those that suck the abundance of the seas (Deu 33:19) cannot be without the fruit of the earth, while those that have a competency of the fruit of the earth may despise the abundance of the seas.

II.He maintains that the riches that are more than these, that are for hoarding, not for use, are vain things, and will not make a man easy or happy. That which our Saviour has said (Luk 12:15), that a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things which he possesses, is what Solomon here undertakes to prove by various arguments.

1.The more men have the more they would have, Ecc 5:10. A man may have but a little silver and be satisfied with it, may know when he has enough and covet no more. Godliness, with contentment, is great gain. I have enough, says Jacob; I have all, and abound, says St. Paul: but,

(1.)He that loves silver, and sets his heart upon it, will never think he has enough, but enlarges his desire as hell (Hab 2:5), lays house to house and field to field (Isa 5:8), and, like the daughters of the horse-leech, still cries, Give, give. Natural desires are at rest when that which is desired is obtained, but corrupt desires are insatiable. Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.

(2.)He that has silver in abundance, and has it increasing ever so fast upon him, yet does not find that it yields any solid satisfaction to his soul. There are bodily desires which silver itself will not satisfy; if a man be hungry, ingots of silver will do no more to satisfy his hunger than clods of clay. Much less will worldly abundance satisfy spiritual desires; he that has ever so much silver covets more, not only of that, but of something else, something of another nature. Those that make themselves drudges to the world are spending their labour for that which satisfies not (Isa 55:2), which fills the belly, but will never fill the soul, Eze 7:19.

2.The more men have the more occasion they have for it, and the more they have to do with it, so that it is as broad as it is long: When goods increase, they are increased that eat them, Ecc 5:11. The more meat the more mouths. Does the estate thrive? And does not the family at the same time grow more numerous and the children grow up to need more? The more men have the better house they must keep, the more servants they must employ, the more guests they must entertain, the more they must give to the poor, and the more they will have hanging on them, for where the carcase is the eagles will be. What we have more than food and raiment we have for others; and then what good is there to the owners themselves, but the pleasure of beholding it with their eyes? And a poor pleasure it is. An empty speculation is all the difference between the owners and the sharers; the owner sees that as his own which those about him enjoy as much of the real benefit of as he; only he has the satisfaction of doing good to others, which indeed is a satisfaction to one who believes what Christ said, that it is more blessed to give than to receive; but to a covetous man, who thinks all lost that goes beside himself, it is a constant vexation to see others eat of his increase.

3.The more men have the more care they have about it, which perplexes them and disturbs their repose, Ecc 5:12. Refreshing sleep is as much the support and comfort of this life as food is. Now,

(1.)Those commonly sleep best that work hard and have but what they work for: The sleep of the labouring man is sweet, not only because he has tired himself with his labour, which makes his sleep the more welcome to him and makes him sleep soundly, but because he has little to fill his head with care about and so break his sleep. His sleep is sweet, though he eat but little and have but little to eat, for his weariness rocks him asleep; and, though he eat much, yet he can sleep well, for his labour gets him a good digestion. The sleep of the diligent Christian, and his long sleep, is sweet; for, having spent himself and his time in the service of God, he can cheerfully return to God and repose in him as his rest.

(2.)Those that have every thing else often fail to secure a good night's sleep. Either their eyes are held waking or their sleeps are unquiet and do not refresh them; and it is their abundance that breaks their sleep and disturbs it, both the abundance of their care (as the rich man's who, when his ground brought forth plentifully, thought within himself, What shall I do? Luk 12:17) and the abundance of what they eat and drink which overcharges the heart, makes them sick, and so hinders their repose. Ahasuerus, after a banquet of wine, could not sleep; and perhaps consciousness of guilt, both in getting and using what they have, breaks their sleep as much as any thing. But God gives his beloved sleep.

4.The more men have the more danger they are in both of doing mischief and of having mischief done them (Ecc 5:13): There is an evil, a sore evil, which Solomon himself had seen under the sun, in this lower world, this theatre of sin and woe - riches left for the owners thereof (who have been industrious to hoard them and keep them safely) to their hurt; they would have been better without them.

(1.)Their riches do them hurt, make them proud, secure, and in love with the world, draw away their hearts from God and duty, and make it very difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven, nay, help to shut them out of it.

(2.)They do hurt with their riches, which not only put them into a capacity of gratifying their own lusts and living luxuriously, but give them an opportunity of oppressing others and dealing hardly with them.

(3.)Often they sustain hurt by their riches. They would not be envied, would not be robbed, if they were not rich. It is the fat beast that is led first to the slaughter. A very rich man (as one observes) has sometimes been excepted out of a general pardon, both as to life and estate, merely on account of his vast and overgrown estate; so riches often take away the life of the owners thereof, Pro 1:19.

5.The more men have the more they have to lose, and perhaps they may lose it all, Ecc 5:14. Those riches that have been laid up with a great deal of pains, and kept with a great deal of care, perish by evil travail, by the very pains and care which they take to secure and increase them. Many a one has ruined his estate by being over-solicitous to advance it and make it more, and has lost all by catching at all. Riches are perishing things, and all our care about them cannot make them otherwise; they make themselves wings and fly away. He that thought he should have made his son a gentleman leaves him a beggar; he begets a son, and brings him up in the prospect of an estate, but, when he dies, leaves it under a charge of debt as much as it is worth, so that there is nothing in his hand. This is a common case; estates that made a great show do not prove what they seemed, but cheat the heir.

6.How much soever men have when they die, they must leave it all behind them (Ecc 5:15, Ecc 5:16): As he came forth of his mother's womb naked, so shall he return; only as his friends, when he came naked into the world, in pity to him, helped him with swaddling-clothes, so, when he goes out, they help him with grave-clothes, and that is all. See Job 1:21; Psa 49:17. This is urged as a reason why we should be content with such things as we have, Ti1 6:7. In respect of the body we must go as we came; the dust shall return to the earth as it was. But sad is our case if the soul return as it came, for we were born in sin, and if we die in sin, unsanctified, we had better never have been born; and that seems to be the case of the worldling here spoken of, for he is said to return in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a sore evil; he thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world, that he shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand; his riches will not go with him into another world nor stand him in any stead there. If we labour in religion, the grace and comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and shall be the better for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But if we labour only for the world, to fill our hands with that, we cannot take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping, but we die with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the whole matter, he may well ask, What profit has he that has laboured for the wind? Note, Those that labour for the world labour for the wind, for that which has more sound than substance, which is uncertain, and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often hurtful, which we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion, will no more feed us than the wind, Hos 12:1. Men will see that they have laboured for the wind when at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind, they know not whither.

7.Those that have much, if they set their hearts upon it, have not only uncomfortable deaths, but uncomfortable lives too, Ecc 5:17. This covetous worldling, that is so bent upon raising an estate, all his days eats in darkness and much sorrow, and it is his sickness and wrath; he has not only no pleasure of his estate, nor any enjoyment of it himself, for he eats the bread of sorrow (Psa 127:2), but a great deal of vexation to see others eat of it. His necessary expenses make him sick, make him fret, and he seems as if he were angry that himself and those about him cannot live without meat. As we read the last clause, it intimates how ill this covetous worldling can bear the common and unavoidable calamities of human life. When he is in health he eats in darkness, always dull with care and fear about what he has; but, if he be sick, he has much sorrow and wrath with his sickness; he is vexed that his sickness takes him off from his business and hinders him in his pursuits of the world, vexed that all his wealth will not give him any ease or relief, but especially terrified with the apprehensions of death (which his diseases are the harbingers of), of leaving this world and the things of it behind him, which he has set his affections upon, and removing to a world he has made no preparation for. He has not any sorrow after a godly sort, does not sorrow to repentance, but he has sorrow and wrath, is angry at the providence of God, angry at his sickness, angry at all about him, fretful and peevish, which doubles his affliction, which a good man lessens and lightens by patience and joy in his sickness.

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Historical interpretation

Historical Reception

7 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

7 quotes · AD 397–420
Post-Nicene
400

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

Ecclesiastes sees that riches are kept for ill by one who possesses them, for their loss causes a very great anxiety and disquiet. Indeed they are lost, for they are left here and can be of no advantage to one who is dead. And so, the dead man felt anxiety in regard to them and could not find rest; he left what would bring him shame and did not take with himself what he could keep. He was far different from him of whom it is written, “Blessed is the man that has filled his desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he speaks to his enemies in the gate.” His inheritance is the Lord, his reward is from the offspring of the Virgin Mary, and he is extolled with praises in the going forth of wisdom.
AD 397Ambrose of MilanPost-NiceneSourceOn Cain and Abel
Wherefore Ecclesiastes says, “There is a grievous illness which I have seen under the sun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner.” … If you are desirous of treasure, take the invisible and the intangible which is to be found in the heavens on high, not that which is in the deepest veins of the earth. Be poor in spirit and you will be rich, no matter what your worldly goods are. “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions,” but in his virtue and in his faith. This richness will enrich you if you are rich in your relations to God.
AD 398Didymus the BlindPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 155:11
Of what use is wealth that belongs to someone? He is obviously lord over his wealth. The wealth somebody owns is his amenity and he himself is lord over his wealth. As he himself can use wealth well by being lord over it and not its slave, so also wealth can become lord over him who owns it. Woe to that person. That is the case if he is greedy and becomes a slave of mammon.
AD 398Didymus the BlindPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 156:15
People use their children as an excuse for gathering riches. At times they do injustice, rob and do similar things, saying: “I’m doing this for my children.” … I have seen a person who struggled to become rich, but his riches were of no use. He did not enjoy them himself, nor did his son receive them, but he remained poor and in the same state as he had entered the world. After all, he was not born with money or with clothes.…Only the soul’s goods can be taken away into heaven.… If he has done good with his money, if he has a good reputation and honor, and if he has tried to help the weak, then he takes with him something of what he has labored for, namely, that he has done good.
AD 399Evagrius PonticusPost-NiceneSourceSCHOLIA ON ECCLESIASTES 39:5.12-13
An abundance of evil can be revealed in wealth. But this type of evil should be viewed as more of a weakness. Therefore, everyone who guards his wealth for himself does not know the wisdom of God, nor is his heart inclined to insight, nor to instructing his children. He has neither received the words of God’s commandments nor has he hidden them in his heart.
AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHOMILIES CONCERNING THE STATUES 2:23
The same thing happens as every one may perceive with regard to sleep. For not a soft couch, or a bedstead overlaid with silver, or the quietness that exists throughout the house, or anything else of this kind are so generally likely to make sleep sweet and pleasant, as labor and fatigue, and the need of sleep, and drowsiness when one lies down. And to this particular the experience of facts, nay, before actual experience, the assertion of the Scriptures bears witness. For Solomon, who had passed his life in luxury, when he wished to make this matter evident, said, “The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much.” Why does he add, “whether he eat little or much”? Both these things usually bring sleeplessness, namely, indigence and excess of food; the one drying up the body, stiffening the eyelids and not suffering them to be closed; the other straitening and oppressing the breath and inducing many pains. But at the same time so powerful a persuasive is labor, that though both these things should befall them, servants are able to sleep. For since throughout the whole day, they are running about everywhere, ministering to their masters, being knocked about and hard pressed, and having but little time to take breath, they receive a sufficient recompense for their toils and labors in the pleasure of sleeping. And thus it has happened through the goodness of God toward humanity, that these pleasures are not to be purchased with gold and silver but with labor, with hard toil, with necessity, and every kind of discipline. Not so the rich. On the contrary, while lying on their beds, they are frequently without sleep through the whole night; and though they devise many schemes, they do not obtain such pleasure. But the poor person, when released from his daily labors, having his limbs completely tired, falls almost before he can lie down into a slumber that is sound, and sweet, and genuine, enjoying this reward, which is not a small one, of his fair day’s toils. Since therefore the poor person sleeps, and drinks, and eats with more pleasure than the rich person, what further value is left to riches, now deprived of the one advantage they seemed to have over poverty?
AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceCommentary on Ecclesiastes
"There
is a sickening evil that I have seen under the sun; riches hoarded by their
owner to his misfortune, and he loses those riches in some bad venture. If he begets a son, he has nothing in
hand. As he had come from his mother's
womb, naked will he return, as he had come; he can salvage nothing from his
labour to take with him. This too, is a
sickening evil: Exactly as he came he must depart, and what did he gain in exchange
for toiling for the wind? Indeed, all
his life he eats in darkness; he is greatly grieved, and has illness and
anger." Take what follows as linked to what is written above:
while Ecclesiastes describes wealth, even he is not able to enjoy his riches and
on many occasions endangers himself on account of them. Nor to his heir does he leave what he has
amassed; but even he and his son, just as they came nude, will return nude to
the earth and nothing of their toil will accompany them. Surely apathy is the worst, to be tortured by
thought on account of riches, and wealth will perish. And are we able to take it with us when we
die, in sadness, in mourning, in indignation, in laws or to seek it in vain
toil? And all this is according to the
apparent simple meaning of the text. But
as we are lifted higher, it seems to me that it speaks about the philosophers,
or the heretics, who amass riches of doctrines into their wickedness, and nor
are authors able to follow any usefulness, nor leave perpetual fruit for their
followers. But even they and their
disciples return to the earth and lose their riches, from him who said, "I
will lose the wisdom of the wise men, and I will reprove the prudence of the
careful." [I Cor. 1, 19.]
Truly
in fact, just as they left their mother's womb, (apparently as from a heretical
church), contrary to this about which it is written: "but Jerusalem which
is above is free, which is the mother of all." [Gal. 4, 26.]
Thus
they go nude to become a spirit, and work for nothing. Those who examine, lack examination, and they
are carried on every wind of doctrine, nor do they have the light, but eat
their sacraments in the darkness. They
are always ill, and are easily moved to anger, storing up anger for themselves
for the day of anger, and they do not have the favour of God.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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