Ecclesiastes5:19

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Translation

Furthermore, every man to whom ELOHIM has given riches

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and wealth

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and the power to eat of it, and to receive his inheritance, and to rejoice in his labor, this is the gift

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of ELOHIM.

Paraphrase

What’s more, everyone to whom THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL THINGS has given riches and wealth, the ability to enjoy them, the opportunity to receive an inheritance, and to enjoy the benefits of his efforts, should consider these things gifts that come from THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL THINGS.

Footnotes

1: “riches”

This word is associated with actual money, the next one is not. Both of the words used in this sentence for wealth mean “riches and wealth,” but they emphasize different types of wealth.

2

While this word also means “riches and wealth,” it appears to be an Assyrian loan-word meaning “to slaughter, to slay.” Thus it refers to the accumulation of sheep, goats and cows. He is simply using two forms of wealth common in his day as examples.

3: “the gift”

Not only is this simple formula for life your allotted portion, it is a gift from God; it is a good and beautiful thing. We should not accept it with reluctance, but with joy. Solomon had been on the other side and had accumulated more wealth than anyone thought possible, but it did not make him happier than the man who had just enough. The riches were given to him by God according to God’s promise to him, and the wealth did not ruin him as it has done to some other people, but neither did it give him fulfillment and satisfaction. He was now looking back on his prosperous years and telling his people, who knew of his great wealth, that riches don’t make you happy, it is relationships and following God that make you happy. I think this was coming from Solomon’s pen after he had been bereft of his most special relationship, the one with his favorite wife, the Shulammite. Her death made all those riches seem insignificant.