Ecc 6:3 | NETfull | STEP | Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years – even if he lives a long, long time, but cannot enjoy his prosperity – even if he were to live forever – I would say, “A stillborn child is better off than he is!”

Ecclesiastes 6:3

3 Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years –
even if he lives a long, long time, ^{▼▼ Heb “the days of his years are many.”} but cannot enjoy his prosperity –
even if he were to live forever ^{▼▼ Heb “he has no burial.” The phrase וְגַם־קְבוּרָה לֹא־הָיְתָה (v^egam-q^evurah lo’-haytah, “he even has no burial”) is traditionally treated as part of a description of the man’s sorry final state, that is, he is deprived of even a proper burial (KJV, NEB, RSV, NRSV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NJPS, MLB, Moffatt). However, the preceding parallel lines suggest that this a hyperbolic protasis: “If he were to live one hundred years…even if he were never buried [i.e., were to live forever]….” A similar idea occurs elsewhere (e.g., Pss 49:9; 89:48). See D. R. Glenn, “Ecclesiastes,” BKCOT, 990.} –
I would say, “A stillborn child ^{▼▼ The noun נֶפֶל (nefel) denotes “miscarriage” and by metonymy of effect, “stillborn child” (e.g., Ps 58:9; Job 3:16; Eccl 6:3); cf. HALOT 711. The noun is related to the verb נָפַל (nafal, “to fall,” but occasionally “to be born”; see Isa 26:18); cf. HALOT 710 s.v. נפל 5.} is better off than he is!” ^{▼▼ The point of 6:3–6 is that the futility of unenjoyed wealth is worse than the tragedy of being stillborn.}