Ecclesiastes 6:3
Bible › Ecclesiastes › Chapter 6 › Verse 3
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.A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
In other translations
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.A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
Hebrew words
אִם־'im-ifH518יוֹלִידyolidhe will fatherH3205אִישׁ'ishanyoneH376מֵאָהme'ahone hundred [children]H3967וְשָׁנִיםveshanimand yearsH8141רַבּוֹתrabotmanyH7227יִחְיֶהyichyehhe will liveH2421וְרַב׀veravand [will be] manyH7227שֶׁיִּהְיוּsheiyihyu[that] which <they> will beH1961יְמֵי־yemei-[the] days ofH3117שָׁנָיוshanavyears hisH8141וְנַפְשׁוֹvenafshoand self hisH5315לֹא־lo'-notH3808תִשְׂבַּעtisba'it will be satisfiedH7646מִן־min-fromH4480הַטּוֹבָהhatovahthe goodH2896וְגַם־vegam-and alsoH1571קְבוּרָהkevurahburialH6900לֹא־lo'-notH3808הָיְתָהhayetahit belongedH1961לּוֹloto <the> himאָמַרְתִּי'amartiI sayH559טוֹבtov[is] goodH2896מִמֶּנּוּmimenumore than himH4480הַנָּפֶל׃hanafelthe miscarriageH5309
Word by word from STEPBible's tagged Hebrew Old Testament, STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew reads right to left.
Related verses
- Job 3:16Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
- Jeremiah 22:19He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.He will be buried like a donkey, dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 9:35And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.
- Ecclesiastes 4:3Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
- Genesis 47:9And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”
- Isaiah 14:19-2019 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.19 But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered by those slain with the sword, and dumped into a rocky pit like a carcass trampled underfoot. 20 You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.
- Esther 9:14-1514 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. 15 For the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. 15 On the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, the Jews in Susa came together again and put to death three hundred men there, but they did not lay a hand on the plunder.
- Esther 5:11And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.
- Psalm 127:4-54 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are children born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.
- 2 Kings 10:1And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab’s children, saying,Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info, most-voted first.