Why does the passage say the sleep of a labouring man is sweet?

The sleep of the labouring man is called sweet because his life is simpler and less weighed down by worries about wealth. Whether he has eaten little or much, he has worked honestly and is worn out in a good way, so he can rest. In contrast, the rich person with great abundance often lies awake, troubled by concerns about keeping and managing riches, or made uneasy by overindulgence. The point is that peace of mind does not come from riches but from a quieter, more contented heart.

What is the “sore evil” of riches kept to their owner’s hurt?

The “sore evil” describes the way hoarded riches can actually harm their owner. Instead of being used for good, the wealth is piled up and guarded. This can bring anxiety, pride, envy from others, and even physical and inner trouble. Then, through some hard event or foolish effort, those riches are lost, and the owner or his children are left with nothing. The passage shows that treating riches as a treasure to cling to, rather than a gift to use wisely, leads to pain rather than safety.

What does it mean that a person comes naked and returns naked?

The picture of coming from the womb naked and returning the same way reminds us that we enter and leave this world with nothing. No matter how hard someone has worked or how much they have gained, they cannot carry any of it beyond death. The text calls this a grievous thing when a person has spent life chasing wealth, only to leave it all behind. It urges readers to see how empty it is to live for possessions, and to look instead to what God gives that lasts.

Why does the passage say a rich man eats in darkness with sorrow and wrath?

Eating in darkness with sorrow and wrath paints a picture of a joyless, troubled life. The person who lives for wealth often eats alone in gloom, full of worry, anger, and sickness from constant stress. Even his food does not comfort him because his heart is bound up in what he might lose, or in plans to gain more. The passage is showing that a life centered on riches can be full of inner darkness, even when the table is loaded with fine things.

What does it mean that it is good to eat, drink, and enjoy one’s labour?

Here the teacher says it is good and fitting for a person to enjoy food, drink, and the fruit of their work as long as they live. This is not about selfish pleasure, but about receiving daily life as a gift from God. When someone sees their work, wages, and simple joys as their portion from God, they can take quiet delight in them. This kind of enjoyment is not greedy grasping, but thankful acceptance of what God has placed in their hands for this short life.

How is enjoying wealth described as the gift of God?

The passage makes a clear difference between having riches and having the power to enjoy them. It says that when God gives a person wealth and also gives them the ability to eat, take their portion, and rejoice in their labour, this is his gift. Many have plenty but no peace, yet some are able to enjoy what they have without being eaten up by worry. That calm, thankful heart, which can rejoice in ordinary days, is shown to come from God, not from the size of one’s bank.

What does it mean that God answers a person in the joy of his heart?

When it says God answers him in the joy of his heart, it points to God filling a person with quiet gladness so that they are not weighed down by the hard days of life. Instead of being always focused on past toil or future troubles, they are helped to enjoy the present gifts God gives. God’s “answer” is not always changing the outside situation, but giving inner joy that lightens the load. This joy keeps a person from being swallowed up by thoughts of how hard life has been.

How does this passage speak to someone worried about money today?

For someone anxious about money, this passage gently shows both the danger of loving riches too much and the kindness of God in daily gifts. It reminds us that even great wealth cannot bring real rest, and that chasing more and more can lead to sleepless nights and a bitter heart. At the same time, it invites us to thank God for work, food, and small pleasures, and to ask him for a content heart. It shifts the focus from piling up to trusting God and enjoying what he provides.

Eccl.5.10

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Q: What does “he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver” mean?

This line is saying that if a person sets their heart on money, they will never feel they have enough. The problem is not the coins themselves but the love of them. When someone is driven by greed, each new gain only makes them want more, like a thirst that grows instead of being quenched. The passage points out that this is empty, because wealth cannot give deep rest or lasting joy. It leaves people chasing increase without true peace in their hearts.

KJV

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

The Folly of Riches

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

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.

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?

All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

¶ Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.

Cross References

No cross references available for this verse.