Ecclesiastes 6:4
New International Version
It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded.

New Living Translation
His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name,

English Standard Version
For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered.

Berean Standard Bible
For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.

King James Bible
For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

New King James Version
for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

New American Standard Bible
for a miscarriage comes in futility and goes into darkness; and its name is covered in darkness.

NASB 1995
for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.

NASB 1977
for it comes in futility and goes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.

Legacy Standard Bible
for that one comes in vanity and goes into darkness; and that one’s name is covered in darkness.

Amplified Bible
for the miscarriage comes in futility (in vain) and passes into obscurity; and its name is covered in obscurity.

Christian Standard Bible
For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness.

American Standard Version
for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;

English Revised Version
for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
A stillborn baby arrives in a pointless birth and goes out into the darkness. The darkness then hides its name.

Good News Translation
It does that baby no good to be born; it disappears into darkness, where it is forgotten.

International Standard Version
because stillborn children arrive in pointlessness, leave in darkness, and their names are covered in darkness.

Majority Standard Bible
For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity.

NET Bible
Though the stillborn child came into the world for no reason and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness,

New Heart English Bible
for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.

Webster's Bible Translation
For he cometh with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

World English Bible
for it comes in vanity, and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
For in vanity he came in, and in darkness he goes, and in darkness his name is covered,

Young's Literal Translation
For in vanity he came in, and in darkness he goeth, and in darkness his name is covered,

Smith's Literal Translation
For in vanity he came, and in darkness he will go away, and his name shall be covered with darkness.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten.

Catholic Public Domain Version
For he arrives without a purpose and he continues on into darkness, and his name shall be wiped away, into oblivion.

New American Bible
Though it came in vain and goes into darkness and its name is enveloped in darkness,

New Revised Standard Version
For it comes into vanity and goes into darkness, and in darkness its name is covered;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
For he comes in with vanity, and shall go into darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because he came in futility and in darkness he will go, and in darkness his name will be hidden
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
for it cometh in vanity, and departeth in darkness, and the name thereof is covered with darkness;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For he came in vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered in darkness.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Futility of Life
3A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4For a stillborn child enters in futility and departs in darkness, and his name is shrouded in obscurity. 5The child, though neither seeing the sun nor knowing anything, has more rest than that man,…

Cross References
Job 3:16
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?

Psalm 58:8
Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.

Psalm 39:5
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

Psalm 90:5-6
You sweep them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning— / in the morning it springs up new, but by evening it fades and withers.

Isaiah 38:12
My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.

Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

Psalm 144:4
Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

Isaiah 40:6-7
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field. / The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.

Job 8:9
For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

Psalm 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

Psalm 103:15-16
As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; / when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.

Matthew 6:30
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’


Treasury of Scripture

For he comes in with vanity, and departs in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness.

his name

Psalm 109:13
Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

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Ecclesiastes 6
1. the vanity of riches without use
3. though a man have many children and a long life
7. the vanity of sight and wandering desires
10. The conclusion of vanities














For it arrives in futility
The word "futility" is translated from the Hebrew word "hebel," which is a recurring theme throughout Ecclesiastes. It conveys the idea of vapor or breath, something transient and insubstantial. In the context of this verse, it underscores the fleeting nature of life and human endeavors. The Preacher, traditionally understood to be Solomon, reflects on the vanity of earthly pursuits without a divine perspective. This futility is a reminder of the limitations of human wisdom and the need for reliance on God’s eternal purpose.

and departs in darkness
"Darkness" here symbolizes ignorance, obscurity, and the absence of understanding or enlightenment. In the ancient Near Eastern context, darkness often represented chaos and the unknown. The phrase suggests that life, when lived without acknowledgment of God, ends without clarity or purpose. It is a poignant reminder of the spiritual darkness that envelops those who do not seek the light of God’s truth. The departure in darkness contrasts with the biblical call to walk in the light, as seen in the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament.

and its name is shrouded in obscurity
The "name" in Hebrew culture is more than a label; it represents one's identity and legacy. To have a name "shrouded in obscurity" implies a life lived without lasting impact or remembrance. This reflects the biblical theme that true significance and legacy are found in a life aligned with God’s will. The obscurity of the name serves as a caution against living for temporal achievements and encourages a focus on eternal values. In the broader scriptural narrative, it points to the importance of being known by God and having one's name written in the Book of Life.

(4) He.--Rather, it--viz., the untimely birth.

Verse 4. - For he cometh in with vanity; rather, for it came into nothingness. The reference is to the fetus, or still-born child, not to the rich man, as is implied by the Authorized Version. This, when it appeared, had no independent life or being, was a mere nothing. And departeth in darkness; and goeth into the darkness. It is taken away and put out of sight. And his (its) name shall be covered with darkness. It is a nameless thing, unrecorded, unremembered.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

he enters
בָּ֖א (bā)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

in futility
בַהֶ֥בֶל (ḇa·he·ḇel)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1892: Emptiness, vanity, transitory, unsatisfactory

and departs
יֵלֵ֑ךְ (yê·lêḵ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

in darkness,
וּבַחֹ֣שֶׁךְ (ū·ḇa·ḥō·šeḵ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2822: The dark, darkness, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness

and his name
שְׁמ֥וֹ (šə·mōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8034: A name

is shrouded
יְכֻסֶּֽה׃ (yə·ḵus·seh)
Verb - Pual - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3680: To plump, fill up hollows, to cover

in obscurity.
וּבַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ (ū·ḇa·ḥō·šeḵ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2822: The dark, darkness, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 6:4 For it comes in vanity and departs (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 6:3
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