Passage

Ecclesiastes 6.9

Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8. For what advantage hath the wise more than the fool? or what hath the poor man, that knoweth how to walk before the living?

9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Whatsoever hath been, the name thereof was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him that is mightier than he. 11. Seeing there are many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? (Ecclesiastes 6:7-11, ASV)

WEB

7. All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. 8. For what advantage has the wise more than the fool? What has the poor man, that knows how to walk before the living?

9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.

Whatever has been, its name was given long ago; and it is known what man is; neither can he contend with him who is mightier than he. 11. For there are many words that create vanity. What does that profit man? (Ecclesiastes 6:7-11, WEB)

KJV

7. All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled. ^{appetite: Heb. soul} 8. For what hath the wise more than the fool? what hath the poor, that knoweth to walk before the living?

9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit. ^{than: Heb. than the walking of the soul}

That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he. 11. Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? (Ecclesiastes 6:7-11, KJV)

YLT

7. All the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the soul is not filled. 8. For what advantage [is] to the wise above the fool? What to the poor who knoweth to walk before the living?

9. Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the going of the soul. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.

What [is] that which hath been? already is its name called, and it is known that it [is] man, and he is not able to contend with him who is stronger than he. 11. For there are many things multiplying vanity; what advantage [is] to man? (Ecclesiastes 6:7-11, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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TBD
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Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.