Ecclesiastes 5:11 “When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is…”

Ecclesiastes 5:11

When good things increase, so do those who consume them; what then is the profit to the owner, except to behold them with his eyes?

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

World English Bible

When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?

American Standard Version

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding of them with his eyes?

Geneva Bible 1599

The sleepe of him that traueileth, is sweete, whether he eate litle or much: but the sacietie of the riche will not suffer him to sleepe.

Darby Translation

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding [of them] with his eyes?

Young's Literal Translation

In the multiplying of good have its consumers been multiplied, and what benefit [is] to its possessor except the sight of his eyes?

Bible in Basic English

When goods are increased, the number of those who take of them is increased; and what profit has the owner but to see them?

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Cross references

“they”

Genesis 12:16 Genesis 13:2 Genesis 13:5–7 1 Kings 5:13–16 1 Kings 4:22 1 Kings 4:23

Genesis 12:16 · BSB

He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

Genesis 13:2 · BSB

And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

Genesis 13:5–7 · BSB

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

1 Kings 5:13–16 · BSB

Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel.

1 Kings 4:22 · BSB

Solomon’s provisions for a single day were thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal,

1 Kings 4:23 · BSB

ten fat oxen, twenty range oxen, and a hundred sheep, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened poultry.

“what”

1 John 2:16 Habakkuk 2:13 Proverbs 23:5 Ecclesiastes 6:9 Ecclesiastes 11:9 Joshua 7:21–25

1 John 2:16 · BSB

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

Habakkuk 2:13 · BSB

Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?

Proverbs 23:5 · BSB

When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Ecclesiastes 6:9 · BSB

Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 11:9 · BSB

Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judg…

Joshua 7:21–25 · BSB

When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the sil…

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

10He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

12The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.

Read Ecclesiastes 5