Глава 6

1–9. Inability to use wealth. 10–12. The powerlessness of man and the vanity of life. Eccl.6:1. There is evil that I have seen under the sun, and it often happens between people: Eccl.6:2. God gives man wealth and property and glory, and his soul lacks nothing that he does not desire; but God does not allow him to use it, but a stranger uses it: this is vanity and a serious illness! Eccl.6:3. If a man gave birth to a hundred children, and lived for many years, and the days of his life were multiplied, but his soul did not enjoy good things and there would be no burial for him, then I would say: a miscarriage is happier than him, Eccl.6:4. because he came in vain and went away into darkness, and his name is covered in darkness. Eccl.6:5. He didn’t even see or know the sun: he was calmer than the other. Eccl.6:6. And even if he lived two thousand years and did not enjoy good things, would not everything go to one place? Ecclesiastes continues to develop his favorite thought about the inability of people to use wealth and, in general, life. It often happens that people who have great wealth do not derive any joy from it. Their lot is only toil and worries, while the joys of life go to others. These rich people, who saw neither light nor joy during their lives, are more unhappy than miscarriages, since they go to Sheol with the bitter consciousness of a meaninglessly spent life. “There would have been no burial for him,” i.e. Having not experienced joy during life, they did not meet with sympathy and honor in death. Eccl.6:7. All a man’s labors are for his mouth, but his soul is not satisfied. All human labors are aimed at acquiring goods and satisfying needs. But man’s desires are limitless, and instead of enjoying what he has, he strives only for new acquisitions. Eccl.6:8. What is the advantage of the wise over the foolish, and what is the advantage of the poor man who knows how to walk over the living? “A poor man who knows how to walk before the living,” that is, a poor man who knows how to live in communication with people and, thus, lead a pleasant and calm life. The advantage of the wise over the foolish is that while the rich miser avoids people in gloomy solitude, the wise man enjoys communicating with people, least of all thinking about increasing wealth. Eccl.6:9. It is better to see with your eyes than to wander with your soul. And this is also vanity and vexation of spirit! It is better to contemplate with your eyes what is than to wander with your soul among unrealizable hopes and impossible desires. It is better to enjoy the little you have than to live in constant worries about the future. Ecclesiastes, however, does not forget that contemplation with the eyes, that is, the joys available to man, do not at all constitute complete happiness, Ithron. They, in essence, are also vain, since they are fleeting. Eccl.6:10. What exists has already been given a name, and it is known that it is a man, and that he cannot argue with someone who is stronger than him. Eccl.6:11. There are many things that multiply vanity: what is best for a person? Eccl.6:12. For who knows what is good for a person in life, in all the days of his vain life that he spends as a shadow? And who will tell a person what will happen after him under the sun? The immutability of the existing order, the inability for man to argue with his Creator, and much more, increase the vanity of life. Man, involuntarily, has to be content with little, since he does not know better happiness, and the future is unknown to him. You might be interested in: