Ecclesiastes 6:3 Meaning and Explanation
“If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Long life and many children mean little if the soul is never satisfied; the Preacher dares to say a stillborn child fares better.
What Does Ecclesiastes 6:3 Mean?
In Solomon's world, a hundred children and a long life were the very marks of blessing. Yet he imagines a man with all of this whose 'soul be not filled with good,' and who is denied even an honorable burial. Such a life, for all its outward fullness, is empty within.
His startling comparison, that an 'untimely birth is better,' is meant to jar us awake. He is not despising long life or children but exposing how hollow even great blessings become when the heart never knows joy. The measure of a life is not its length or its possessions but whether the soul has been filled with good. That deeper filling is what God offers to those who seek Him, a satisfaction the years alone can never supply.
Ecclesiastes 6:3 in the Original Language
nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ), 'soul' -- the whole living person, the seat of appetite, longing, and life itself.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ecclesiastes 6:3
What does Ecclesiastes 6:3 mean?
Long life and many children mean little if the soul is never satisfied; the Preacher dares to say a stillborn child fares better.