to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
silver
כֶּ֙סֶף֙ke.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
satisfied
יִשְׂבַּ֣עyis.Ba'
H7646
to sate · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
silver
כֶּ֔סֶףKe.sef
H3701
silver (from its pale color) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
loveth
אֹהֵ֥ב'o.Hev
H157
to have affection for (sexually or otherwise) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
abundance
בֶּהָמ֖וֹןbe.ha.Mon
H1995
a noise · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
increase
תְבוּאָ֑הte.vu.'Ah
H8393
income · noun, common feminine singular absolute
vanity
הָֽבֶלHa.vel
H1892
emptiness or vanity · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves throug…
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Y…
Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he posses…
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Ecclesiastes 4:8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his…
Ecclesiastes 2:26 For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap…
Ecclesiastes 4:4 Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of s…
Psalms 62:10 Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:9-17
Solomon had shown the vanity of pleasure, gaiety, and fine works, of honour, power, and royal dignity; and there is many a covetous worldling that will agree with him, and speak as slightly as he does of these things; but money, he thinks, is a substantial thing, and if he can but have enough of that he is happy. This is the mistake which Solomon attacks, and attempts to rectify, in these verses; he shows that there is as much vanity in great riches, and the lust of the eye about them, as there is in the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life, and a man can make himself no more happy by hoarding an estate than by spending it.
I. He grants that the products of the earth, for the support and…
Not only will God punish at last, but meanwhile the oppressive gainers of "silver" find no solid "satisfaction" in it.
shall not be satisfied--so the oppressor "eateth his own flesh" (see on Ecc 4:1 and Ecc 4:5).
with increase--is not satisfied with the gain that he makes.
John Gill on Ecclesiastes 5:10
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver,.... The tillage of the earth is necessary, a very laudable and useful employment, and men do well to busy themselves in it; without this, neither the common people nor the greatest personages can be supplied with the necessaries of life; but then an immoderate love of money is criminal, which is here meant by loving silver, one kind of money, which when loved beyond measure is the root of all evil; and besides, when a man has got ever so much of it, he is not satisfied, he still wants more, like the horse leech at the vein cries Give, give; or he cannot eat silver, so Jarchi; or be "fed with money", as Mr. Broughton renders it; and he…
"He who loveth silver is not satisfied with silver; and he whose love cleaveth to abundance, hath nothing of it: also this is vain." The transition in this series of proverbs is not unmediated; for the injustice which, according to Ecc 5:7, prevails in the state as it now is becomes subservient to covetousness, in the very nature of which there lies insatiableness: semper avarus eget, hunc nulla pecunia replet. That the author speaks of the "sacra fames argenti" (not auri) arises from this, that not זהב, but כסף, is the specific word for coin.
(Note: A Jewish fancy supposes that כסף is chosen because it consists of letters rising in value (20, 60, 80); while, on the contrary, זהב consists of…
The Church Fathers
When they are intent on increasing money, let them hear what is written: "The covetous man is not filled with money, and he that loves riches shall not reap fruit thereof." For indeed he would reap fruit of them, were he minded, not loving them, to disperse them well. But whoever in his affection for them retains them shall surely leave them behind here without fruit. When they burn to be filled at once with all manner of wealth, let them hear what is written: "He that makes haste to be rich shall not be innocent." For certainly he who goes about to increase wealth is negligent in avoiding sin; and, being caught after the manner of birds, while looking greedily at the bait of earthly things, he is not aware in what a noose of sin he is being strangled.
If, he says, you see among people those on the one hand who are oppressed and those on the other who do wrong in judgment, and still others who practice justice, do not be amazed that this occurs as if there were no divine foresight. Rather, know that God guards everything through Christ and that he also exercises his provision over everything through his holy angels, who excel in their knowledge of earthly events. God is the ruler of the world that he created, and he allots suffering to those who prefer greed and the vanity of this life to knowledge of Christ. But to those who live their lives in goodness, conduct themselves with courage and serve justly, he grants the knowledge of God and a peaceful rest. He grants this whether their knowledge was small or great here, for "we know in part and we prophesy in part." But in the end, he will receive these, while those who were filled with wickedness will find no rest from the worm produced by their evil.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Avarice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Contentment · The wicked want — The wicked want
Covetousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Measure · about a bushel and a half — about a bushel and a half
Riches · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Vanity · Love of riches is — Love of riches is
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Because we are created as spiritual and not just physical beings, possessions and wealth can never completely satisfy us.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes 5:10
As goods increase. When the [Bnei] Yisroel improve their deeds.
So do those who consume them. The giving of the reward for [fulfilling] the commandments.
And what advantage has the owner. [I.e.,] to the Holy One , Blessed Is He, with all the improvement of their deeds.14Alternatively, “and what good is the owner’s skill [=כשרון],” as in 2:21 above.
Except beholding them with his eyes. That He sees that they are subservient to Him, and He has satisfaction, that He commanded and His will was done, and so is the matter concerning the sacrifices.
As goods increase so do those who consume them. When they bring many freewill offerings, the kohanim who eat it increase.
And what advantage has t…
