Matthew Henry Commentary Ecclesiastes 6:1-6

"There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is heavy upon men: a man to whom God giveth riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacketh nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but an alien eateth it; this is vanity, and it is an evil disease. If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he: for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness; moreover it hath not seen the sun nor known it; this hath rest rather than the other: yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, and yet enjoy no good, do not all go to one place?" — Ecclesiastes 6:1-6 (ASV)

A man often possesses everything he needs for outward enjoyment; yet the Lord may so leave him to covetousness or evil dispositions that he makes no good or enjoyable use of what he has. By one means or another, his possessions pass to strangers; this is vanity and an evil disease.

A numerous family was a matter of fond desire and of high honour among the Hebrews; and long life is the desire of mankind in general. Even with these additions, a man may not be able to enjoy his riches, family, and life.

Such a man, in his passage through life, seems to have been born for no purpose or use. And he who has entered life only for a moment, to leave it the next, has a preferable lot to him who has lived long, but only to suffer.