Many folks who read the book of Ecclesiastes believe Solomon (or whomsoever they believe wrote the book) described the evils of wealth and had a very pessimistic outlook on life. In my opinion, however, such folks miss the point of the writer’s thesis. Rather than exposing the evils of wealth, Solomon unveils for us the difficulty many have in finding joy in life, which joy he tells us is the gift of God to those who labor in this life. As far as Solomon’s supposed pessimistic point of view is concerned, this is understood in the fact that he isn’t describing the Lord’s original plan for mankind (Genesis 1:26-28), but rather the labor that the Lord gave him as a result of his rebellion (Genesis 3:17-19). Instead of imaging the Lord, whose works are new in the morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), the lot of mankind has become locked into repetitious cycles or seasons of life (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). For him, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9), until the coming of Christ who brought eternal life to light (2Timothy 1:6-10).
We are told in Ecclesiastes 6:1 that the Teacher had observed a kind of evil that weighs heavily[1] (H7227) upon men. The KJV and many other translations render the word as: common (among men), or prevalent, general, troubles everyone, frequent etc. So, the scholarship is somewhat divided as to how Solomon meant us to understand his point. Nevertheless, if we put the word in the context of the trouble that Solomon describes, we would understand through experience that this doesn’t occur to all men, neither is this kind of trouble common or prevalent among all men. Rather, Solomon describes for us a particular kind of evil that is very heavy to bear by those who live through it.
The Teacher describes a wealthy and powerful man for our consideration, a man who is generally considered to be an honorable man, and he doesn’t lack anything that his heart desires, except that God hadn’t given him power to eat thereof (Ecclesiastes 6:2). That is, although the man wants for nothing this world has to offer, he is unable to enjoy it. Enjoyment is something the Lord kept back. Rather, the text continues, the stranger eats (or enjoys) it, and the Teacher concludes this (the man’s life) is meaningless and an evil disease. Therefore, this man’s experience is quite unlike the man who obtained his wealth through oppression (Ecclesiastes 4:1) and he whom the Lord gave wealth but also the ability to enjoy his wealth (Ecclesiastes 5:19).
At this point, Abraham’s lament to the Lord comes to mind for he had great wealth and honor but the stranger stood to inherit his wealth according to the Law of Hammurabi, which law Abraham is known to have observed. Abraham asked the Lord, “what will thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?” In other words, Eliezer of Damascus stood to inherit Abraham’s wealth, if Abraham was unable to produce an offspring himself. It isn’t difficult to understand that this thing had weighed heavily upon Abraham. Nevertheless, we have the benefit of hindsight and are able to see the Lord fully intended on blessing Abraham with Isaac, and Abraham would be content. However, the man in Ecclesiastes 6:2 is a man, whom the Lord had no intention of blessing with the joy in his labor. He wanted for nothing, but he had no joy in what he was able to do.
In Proverbs Solomon warns his reader against indulging himself in the wisdom of this world (Proverbs 5:1-6). He advises us to refrain from following that path of life, because in doing so, one gives his honor to cruel folks. Strangers fill themselves with the wealth this one has labored to acquire (Proverbs 5:8-11). This is a man who had gained much wealth, but strangers are his beneficiaries, perhaps through bad investments, or fraudulent enterprises, or perhaps the man pays off those whose help he requires but is betrayed (cp. Hosea 7:9). There are many ways in which folks, whom the Lord had made rich (perhaps through inheritance), could lose their wealth. The point is: the man sins, perhaps through using the Lord’s gift in evil pursuits, cause him to lose his ability to enjoy what the Lord had given him. Moreover, however this is done, the man is suddenly struck with the terrible realization that all his life his inherited wealth, or the wealth he labored to accumulate, was ultimately for the benefit of other folks, folks who cheated him, folks who dishonored his name, folks who betrayed him and consumed all he had worked to achieve. So, strangers and not he benefited from all he had. Thus, his whole life had become meaningless. His life and all he labored to achieve was like a pregnant woman who miscarried her fruit, and all is lost. Truly, this is a heavy burden for anyone to bear!
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[1] See translations: NIV, NET, ACV, BBE, ERV, ESV, GW, ISV, JPS, RV, TLV, WEB etc.
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