Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
Parallel Translations
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Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.
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Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
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(5-18) Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour — this is the gift of God.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Ecclesiastes 5:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 8:18 But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as it is today.
- Ecclesiastes 3:13 Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
- 2 Chronicles 1:12 therefore wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had who have been before you had, and none after you will have.”
- Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I? For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
- 1 Kings 3:13 I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you for all your days.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He will take no great thought for the pains…
He will take no great thought for the pains that he hath endured in time past.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Ecc 5:19 Every man also to whom God hath…
Ecc 5:19 Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this [is] the gift of God.
Ver. 19. This is the gift of God.] A gift of his right hand, donum throni, non scabelli, - Godliness only hath contentedness. {1Ti 6:6} The comfort of wealth comes in by no other door than by the assurance of God’s love in bestowing it, and of his grace in sanctifying it. "God give thee the dew of heaven." {Gen 27:28} Esau likewise had the like, but not with a "God give thee." A carnal heart cares not how, so he may have it; hence his so little comfort and enjoyment. A godly man will have God with it, or else he is all amort. Moses would not be put off with an angel to go along with them. Luther protested, when great gifts were offered him, that he would not be satisfied or quieted with those rattles. {a}
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{a} Valde protestatus sum me nolle sic satiari. -Luth.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Hath given him power, Heb. hath given him the…
Hath given him power, Heb. hath given him the dominion; who is the lord and master of his estate, not a slave to it. Of this and the former verse, See Poole "Ecc 2:24"; See Poole "Ecc 3:12", See Poole "Ecc 3:13". To take his portion to his own use, to use what God hath given him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Every man also to whom God hath given riches…
Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth,.... Which include the whole of a man's substance; all his estate, personal and real; and all his goods and possessions, movable and immovable, as gold, silver, cattle, fields, and farms; which are all the gift of God, by whatsoever means they may be acquired or possessed;
and hath given him power; or, "caused him to have dominion" (r), over his wealth and riches, and not be a slave to them, as many are: but to have so much command of them and of himself, as
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to eat thereof; comfortably enjoy them; and dispose of them to his own good, the good of others, and the glory of God. It follows,
and to take his portion; which God hath allotted him; to take it thankfully, and use it freely and comfortably;
and to rejoice in his labour; in the things he has been labouring for, in a cheerful use of them; blessing God for them, and taking the comfort of them;
this is the gift of God; to have such power over his substance, and not be a slave to it, and to enjoy the fruits of his labour, in a cheerful and comfortable manner; this is as much the gift of God as riches themselves (s).
(r) "eumque dominari eum fecerit", Tigurine version; "imperare fecit eum", Gejerus; "dominari eum fecerit", Rambachius. (s) "Di tibi divitias dederunt, artemque fruendi", Horat. Ep. l. 1. Ep. 4. v. 7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain To take - To use what God hath given…
To take - To use what God hath given him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Ecc 5:19-20. Every man also, &c. — “And whosoever…
Ecc 5:19-20. Every man also, &c. — “And whosoever he be whom God hath blessed, not only with plenty of worldly goods, but also with such a noble and generous mind that he is not their slave, but truly master of them,” (so the Hebrew, השׂלישׂוsignifies,) “being able to enjoy them innocently, and that with cheerfulness, and to delight in doing good to others with them; let him be very thankful to Almighty God for so great a happiness, and acknowledge it to be a singular gift of his bounty.” For be shall not much remember the days of his life — “For he that is thus highly favoured by God, will not think life tedious or irksome; but, forgetting his past toils, and taking no” anxious “care for the future, will spend his time most comfortably; because God hath given him his hearths desire, in that inward tranquillity of mind, or, rather, joy and gladness of heart, wherewith God hath compensated all his pains, and testified his extraordinary kindness to him.” — Bishop Patrick. See notes on Ecc 2:24; and Ecc 3:12-13.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Delight, while he observes due moderation. His life passes…
Delight, while he observes due moderation. His life passes away sweetly. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain As Ecc 5:18 refers to the "laboring" man (Ecc…
As Ecc 5:18 refers to the "laboring" man (Ecc 5:12), so Ecc 5:19 to the "rich" man, who gets wealth not by "oppression" (Ecc 5:8), but by "God's gift." He is distinguished also from the "rich" man (Ecc 6:2) in having received by God's gift not only "wealth," but also "power to eat thereof," which that one has not.
to take his portion--limits him to the lawful use of wealth, not keeping back from God His portion while enjoying his own.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 19. Every man also — In this verse the…
19. Every man also — In this verse the “also” should be the first word, as this confirms the latter part of Ecc_2:24, and has a logical connexion with the preceding. This second part, now restated, is, that man’s blessings proceed from God, who intends them to be cheerfully and thankfully enjoyed.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 19. this is the gift of God] The words…
19. this is the gift of God] The words indicate a return to the sense of dependence on the Divine bounty, which we have seen in chs. Ecc_2:24, Ecc_3:13. Life itself, and the outward goods of life, few or many, and the power to enjoy these, all are alike God’s gifts.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Every man also. The sentence is anacoluthic, like. Ecc_3:13,…
Every man also. The sentence is anacoluthic, like. Ecc_3:13, and may best be rendered, Also for every man to whom... this is a gift of God. Ginsburg connects the verse closely with the preceding one, supplying, "I have also seen that a man," etc. Whichever way we take the sentence, it comes to the same tiling, implying man"s absolute dependence upon God"s bounty. To whom God hath given riches and wealth. Before he can enjoy his possessions a man must first receive them from God"s hands. The two terms here used are not quite synonymous. While the former word, osher; is used for wealth of any kind whatever, the latter, nekasim, means properly "wealth in cattle," like the Latin pecunia, and thence used generally for riches (volek) Hath given him power to eat thereof. Abundance is useless without the power to enjoy it. This is the gift of God, a great and special bounty from a loving and gracious God. Thus Horace, "Epist.," 1:4. 7
Di tibi divitias dederunt artemque fruendi.
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The gods have given you wealth, and (what is more) Have given you wisdom to enjoy your store. (Howes. )
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 riches and wealth
riches and wealth
These two words mean basically the same thing. They refer to money and the things that a person can buy with money. (See: Doublet)
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to receive his share
"to accept what he is given"
he does not call to mind
Here the word "he" refers to the person to whom God has given a gift. The phrase "call to mind" is an idiom. AT: "he does not remember" or "he does not think about" (See: Idiom)
the days of his life
This refers to the things that happened during his lifetime. This can be stated clearly. AT: "the things that have happened during his lifetime" (See: Idiom)
keep busy
"stay busy"
translationWords
receive
joy
gift
mind
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.