Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 6:5
The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Teacher addresses readers in Ecclesiastes 6, positioning a stillborn infant’s condition against a long-lived man who never enjoys his wealth.
The words — נַחַת (naḥat) means "rest" or "ease," and שֶׁמֶשׁ (shemesh) means "sun." The verse states the child neither sees the sun nor knows anything, yet this state grants more rest than the man’s prolonged life.
The thread — The specific motif of a child never seeing the sun runs in Psalms 58:8, while the surrounding themes of darkness, futility, and universal mortality appear in Ecclesiastes 6:4 and Job 14:1.
Why it lands — The text asserts that nonexistence without experience holds more peace than prolonged existence without enjoyment, requiring readers to evaluate whether their labor yields tangible rest or merely extends suffering.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other.
Cross-references
- Job 3:10 For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.
- Job 14:1 “Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
- Psalms 58:8 Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
- Psalms 90:7 For we are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your wrath.