A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
Solomon had shown, in the close of the foregoing chapter, how good it is to make a comfortable use of the gifts of God's providence; now here he shows the evil of the contrary, having and not using, gathering to lay up for I know not what contingent emergencies to come, not to lay out on the most urgent occasions present.
Commenting on Ecclesiastes 6:1-6
A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour,.... By "riches" may be meant gold and silver, things which a covetous man is never satisfied with; and by "wealth", cattle, with which farms and fields are stocked: the wealth of men, especially in former times, and in the eastern countries, lay very much in these, as did the wealth of Abraham and Job...
for his soul--that is, his enjoyment. God giveth him not power to eat--This distinguishes him from the "rich" man in Ecc 5:19. "God hath given" distinguishes him also from the man who got his wealth by "oppression" (Ecc 5:8, Ecc 5:10). stranger--those not akin, nay, even hostile to him (Jer 51:51; Lam 5:2; Hos 7:9).