Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 5:14
But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his hand.
Evil travail – Adverse accident, or unsuccessful employment (compare Ecc 1:13; Ecc 4:8).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. And he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.] He has been stripped of his property by unfortunate trade or by plunderers; and he has nothing to leave to his children.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But, or for, or or, or moreover; for this particle is so rendered by divers others, both here and in other places of Scripture.
Those riches perish: if they be kept, it is to the owners hurt; and if not, they are lost to his grief.
By evil travail; by some wicked practices, either his own, or of other men; or by some secret hand of God cursing all his enterprises.
There is nothing in his hand; either,
1. In the fathers power to leave to his son, for whose sake he underwent all those hard labours; which is a great aggravation of his grief and misery. Or,
2. In the sons possession after his fathers death.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But those riches perish by evil travail,…. Or, “by an evil business or affair” n. That is, such riches as are not well got, or are not used as they should be, these waste away and come to nothing; either by the owner’s bad management, and misconduct in trade and business; or by fire, tempest, thieves, and robbers, and many other ways and means: these are very certain things; and there are various ways by which they make themselves wings and flee away, under the direction of a divine providence;
and he begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his hand; the riches he had hoarded up, he designed for his son; but being stripped of them by one means or another, when he comes to die, has nothing to leave his son: or if his riches do not perish in his own lifetime, yet they are quickly consumed by his son, who, in a short time, has nothing to live upon; and so being brought up a gentleman, and in no business, is in a worse condition than such who have been brought up to work for their living, and in no expectation of an estate after the decease of their friends. The Targum understands it in this latter sense, paraphrasing the words thus,
“and those riches, which he shall leave his son after his death, shall perish, because he hath gotten them in an evil way; and they shall not remain in the hand of the son whom he hath begotten; neither shall anything remain in his hand.”
n “occupatione, negotio, vel casu malo”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(14) Evil travail.Unsuccessful business.
Nothing in his hand.The same words occur in a literal sense in Jdg. 14:6.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Those riches perish It is to be remembered that the heir for whom the keeping is done is now spoken of, and the case is viewed from the standpoint of his fortunes. By the time when he himself becomes a father the wealth hoarded for him is gone, and he the heir and now the father has nothing in his hand. By evil travail is meant some ruinous enterprise.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ecc 5:14. But those riches perish For those very riches perish, notwithstanding the constant trouble taken to preserve them; a man begot a son, and not any thing in his hand.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Ecc 5:14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his hand.
Ver. 14. But those riches perish by evil travail, ] i.e., By evil trading, trafficking, or other cross event and accident. They waste and wither either by vanity or violence. They slip out of the hand, as the punting bird or wriggling eel. There is no hold to be taken of them – no trust to be put in them. They were never true to those that trusted in them. See Trapp on “ Pro 23:5 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
travail = fatigue from toil. See note on Ecc 2:23, and Ecc 4:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
those: Ecc 2:26, Job 5:5, Job 20:15-29, Job 27:16, Job 27:17, Psa 39:6, Pro 23:5, Hag 1:9, Hag 2:16, Hag 2:17, Mat 6:19, Mat 6:20
and he: 1Sa 2:6-8, 1Sa 2:36, 1Ki 14:26, Psa 109:9-12
Reciprocal: Est 8:2 – Esther set Job 20:20 – Surely Pro 8:18 – durable Pro 13:11 – Wealth Ecc 2:18 – I should Jer 48:36 – the riches Mat 13:22 – the deceitfulness Luk 12:20 – then 1Ti 6:17 – uncertain riches Jam 5:1 – ye 1Pe 1:7 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:14 But those riches perish by evil labour: and he begetteth a son, and [there is] nothing in his {l} hand.
(l) He does not enjoy his father’s riches.