Month: June 2026

Ecclesiastes 6:12 | Word Study

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? Ecclesiastes 6:12 (KJV)

‘… all of the days of his vain life,’ refers to the ‘accusative of time. (Seow, 233) ‘… spendeth as a shadow’ refers to human life being ephemeral, (234) i.e., human life is short and thereby ignorant. The implication is that man is in no condition to judge what is good for himself, in fact, he does not even know what is going to happen to him after death. (Bartholomew, 204)

References:

Bartholomew, C. (2009). Ecclesiastes, Baker Academic

Seow, C.L. (1997). Ecclesiastes, Yale University Press

Ecclesiastes 6:11 | Word Study

Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? Ecclesiastes 6:11 (KJV)

‘More words… more vanity,’ highlights the transient nature of things. Vanity or ‘enigma’ here is translated as ‘fleeting.’ (Bartholomew, 204) Qoheleth seems to state that the vanity of labouring under the sun cannot be resolved by investing more labour into it. As Henry writes, “what residuum has he, what overplus, what real advantage, when he comes to balance his account?” Or in other words, what remains after much labour is only vanity.

Reference:

Bartholomew, C. (2009). Ecclesiastes, Baker Academic

Henry, M. (1706). Commentary on the Whole Bible, Complete, Eccl. 6:11-12

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