Ecclesiastes 6: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Ecclesiastes 6 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

A man may receive wealth, honor, and all his desires, yet he may not enjoy them, as an alien consumes what he cannot (vv. 1-2). Longevity is worthless if a man lacks satisfaction and has no burial; a stillborn child is better than this man (vv.

Key verse

“a man to whom God gives riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God gives him no power to eat of it, but an alien eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.”
Ecclesiastes 6:2 (WEB)

Outline

Ecclesiastes 6:1–2 The Burden of Unenjoyed Wealth
Ecclesiastes 6:3–4 Longevity without Satisfaction
Ecclesiastes 6:5–6 The Inevitability of Death
Ecclesiastes 6:7–9 The Insatiable Appetite
Ecclesiastes 6:10–12 The Limits of Human Understanding

Discussion questions

In v2, what happens to the man who receives 'riches, wealth, and honor'?
What does the stillborn child represent in v3?
In v6, what does it mean that 'all go to one place'?
In vv. 11-12, what is the implication of the phrase 'many words that create vanity'?
When have you felt like your 'appetite is not filled' (v7) despite hard work?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Ecclesiastes 6: Ecclesiastes 5, Ecclesiastes 1, Ecclesiastes 3.

Before next time: read Ecclesiastes 7.