4:6 Better is one handful with some rest
than two hands full of toil 1 and chasing the wind.
6:5 though it never saw the light of day 2 nor knew anything, 3
yet it has more rest 4 than that man –
1 sn Qoheleth lists three approaches to labor: (1) the competitive workaholic in 4:4, (2) the impoverished sluggard in 4:5, and (3) the contented laborer in 4:6. The balanced approach rebukes the two extremes.
2 tn Heb “it never saw the sun.”
3 tn The word “anything” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
4 sn The Hebrew term translated rest here refers to freedom from toil, anxiety, and misery – part of the miserable misfortune that the miserly man of wealth must endure.