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Contemporary English Version
Ecclesiastes 6:9
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Better what the eyes see than wandering desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and striving after wind.
It is better to see what you have than to want more. Wanting more is useless— like chasing the wind.
What the eyes see [enjoying what is available] is better than [craving] what the soul desires. This too is futility and chasing after the wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire. This also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
The sight of ye eye is better then to walke in ye lustes: this also is vanitie, & vexation of spirit.
What the eyes see is better than what the soul goes after. This too is vanity and striving after wind.
Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
Better what the eyes can see than meandering desire. Yet this too is pointless and feeding on wind.
Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.
It is better to be happy with what you have than to always want more and more. Always wanting more and more is useless. It is like trying to catch the wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire; this is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
It is useless; it is like chasing the wind. It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.
Better to be content with what your eyes see than for your soul to constantly crave more. This also is vanity and chasing wind!
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the soul. This is also vanity and striving after wind.
The sight of the eyes is better, then that the soule shulde so departe awaye. Howbeit this is also a vayne thinge and a disquietnesse of mynde.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
What the eyes see is better than the wandering of desire. This is to no purpose and a desire for wind.
Better is the seeing of the eyes than the wandering of the desire; this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes, then the wandering of the desire: this is also vanitie and vexation of spirit.
The cleare sight of the eye, is better then that the soule shoulde walke after desires of the lust: Howbeit, this is also a vayne thyng, and a disquietnesse of mynde.
The sight of the eyes is better than that which wanders in soul: this is also vanity, and waywardness of spirit.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
It is betere to se that, that thou coueitist, than to desire that, that thou knowist not; but also this is vanyte, and presumpcioun of spirit.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire: this [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit.
It is better to be content with what the eyes can see than for one's heart always to crave more. This continual longing is futile—like chasing the wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.
Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
What the eyes see is better than what there is a desire for. This also is for nothing, like trying to catch the wind.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this also is vanity and a chasing after wind.
Better what the eyes behold, than the wandering of desire, - even this, was vanity, and a feeding on wind.
Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of spirit.
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire; this also is vanity and a striving after wind.
Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the going of the soul. This also [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Better: Ecclesiastes 2:24, Ecclesiastes 3:12, Ecclesiastes 3:13, Ecclesiastes 5:18
wandering of the desire: Heb. walking of the soul, Job 31:7, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:16, Jeremiah 2:20
this: Ecclesiastes 6:2, Ecclesiastes 1:2, Ecclesiastes 1:14, Ecclesiastes 2:11, Ecclesiastes 2:22, Ecclesiastes 2:23, Ecclesiastes 4:4
Reciprocal: 1 Kings 9:1 - all Solomon's 1 Kings 9:19 - that which Solomon desired 1 Kings 21:4 - And he laid him Psalms 101:3 - set Proverbs 17:24 - the eyes Ecclesiastes 2:10 - whatsoever Ecclesiastes 2:17 - for Ecclesiastes 5:11 - what Isaiah 57:17 - in the 2 Corinthians 6:12 - are not
Cross-References
That's how God created the heavens and the earth. When the Lord God made the heavens and the earth,
God created men and women to be like himself. He gave them his blessing and called them human beings. This is a list of the descendants of Adam, the first man:
and during the next three hundred years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God,
and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God.
Make it four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
The Lord told Noah: Take your whole family with you into the boat, because you are the only one on this earth who pleases me.
After the flood Shem, Ham, and Japheth had many descendants.
Abram was ninety-nine years old when the Lord appeared to him again and said, "I am God All-Powerful. If you obey me and always do right,
Then he gave Joseph his blessing and said: My grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac worshiped the Lord God. He has been with me all my life,
Solomon answered: My father David, your servant, was honest and did what you commanded. You were always loyal to him, and you gave him a son who is now king.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Better [is] the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire,.... By "the sight of the eyes" is not meant the bare beholding outward riches, as in Ecclesiastes 5:11; but the enjoyment of present mercies; such things as a man is in the possession of, and with which he should be content, Hebrews 13:5; and by "the wandering of the desire", the craving appetite and insatiable lust of the covetous mind, which enlarges its desire as hell, after a thousand things, and everything it can think of; such a mind roves through the whole creation, and covets everything under the sun: now it is better to enjoy contentedly things in sight and in possession, than to let the mind loose in vague desires, after things that may never be come at, and, if attained to, would give no satisfaction;
this [is] also vanity and vexation of spirit: a most vain thing, to give the mind such a loose and liberty in its unbounded desires after worldly things; and a vexation of spirit it is to such a craving mind, that it cannot obtain what it is so desirous of.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Connect these verses with Ecclesiastes 6:2-3 : “All labor is undertaken with a view to some profit, but as a rule the people who labor are never satisfied. What advantage then has he who labors if (being rich) he is wise, or if being poor he knows how to conduct himself properly; what advantage have such laborers above a fool? (None, so far as they are without contentment, for) a thing present before the eyes is preferable to a future which exists only in the desire.”
Ecclesiastes 6:8
What - literally, what profit (as in Ecclesiastes 1:3).
Knoweth ... living - i. e., “Knows how to conduct himself rightly among his contemporaries.”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Ecclesiastes 6:9. Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the desire — This is translated by the Vulgate, as a sort of adage: Melius est videre quod cupias, quam desiderare quod nescias, "It is better to see what one desires than to covet what one knows not." It is better to enjoy the present than to feed one's self with vain desires of the future. What we translate the wandering of desire, מהלך נפש mehaloch nephesh, is the travelling of the soul. What is this? Does it simply mean desire? Or is there any reference here to the state of separate spirits! It however shows the soul to be in a restless state, and consequently to be unhappy. If Christ dwell in the heart by faith, the soul is then at rest, and this is properly the rest of the people of God.
