Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 9:6
Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Preacher addresses readers living under the sun, speaking immediately after declaring that the dead know nothing and their memory fades. He writes from a reflective stance on the finality of human existence.
The words — The Hebrew כְּבָר (ke-var) translates literally as "already," and אָבָדָה ('a-vadah) means "it has perished." These terms mark the definitive end of the emotional states listed.
The thread — The text states that love, hate, and envy vanish and the dead cease participation in earthly works. This matches the limitation of mortal trust in Psalms 146:3, the cessation of striving in Job 3:17, and the fleeting nature of human days in Ecclesiastes 6:12.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to acknowledge that human passions and earthly pursuits end permanently at death. It directs attention to present action, as the immediate context commands eating and drinking with joy.
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
Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
Cross-references
- Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Job 3:17 There the wicked cease from raging, and there the weary find rest.
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
- Matthew 2:20 “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”
- Exodus 1:8 Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
- Proverbs 10:28 The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectations of the wicked will perish.
- Ecclesiastes 2:18 I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.