Ecclesiastes 6:3

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years – even if he lives a long, long time, ¹  but cannot enjoy his prosperity – even if he were to live forever ²  – I would say, “A stillborn child ³  is better off than he is!” ⁴ 

Ge 33:5; Ge 47:9; 1Sa 2:20,21; 2Ki 9:35; 2Ki 10:1; 1Ch 28:5; 2Ch 11:21; Es 5:11; Es 7:10; Es 9:14,15; Job 3:16; Ps 58:8; Ps 127:4,5; Pr 17:6; Ec 4:3; Ec 5:17-19; Isa 14:19,20; Jer 22:19; Jer 36:30; Mt 26:24

¹ tn Heb “the days of his years are many.”

² tn Heb “he has no burial.” The phrase וְגַם־קְבוּרָה לֹא־הָיְתָה (vÿgam-qÿvurah lo’-haytah, “he even has no burial”) is traditionally treated as part of a description of the man’s sorry final state, that is, he is deprived of even a proper burial (KJV, NEB, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NJPS, MLB, Moffatt). However, the preceding parallel lines suggest that this a hyperbolic protasis: “If he were to live one hundred years…even if he were never buried [i.e., were to live forever]….” A similar idea occurs elsewhere (e.g., Pss 49:9; 89:48). See D. R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” BKCOT, 990.

³ tn The noun נֶפֶל (nefel) denotes “miscarriage” and by metonymy of effect, “stillborn child” (e.g., Ps 58:9; Job 3:16; Eccl 6:3); cf. HALOT 711. The noun is related to the verb נָפַל (nafal, “to fall,” but occasionally “to be born”; see Isa 26:18); cf. HALOT 710 s.v. נפל 5.

⁴ sn The point of 6:3-6 is that the futility of unenjoyed wealth is worse than the tragedy of being stillborn.