Ecclesiastes 6:11

there be many things that increase vanity The Hebrew noun, as so often throughout the book, may stand either for thingsor words. In the former case, the maxim points to the pressure of affairs, what we call "business," the cares about many things, which make men feel the hollowness of life. In the latter, it probably refers to the speculative discussions on the chief good, destiny, and the like, which were rife in the schools both of Jews and Greeks, and finds a parallel in ch. Ecclesiastes 12:12, and in Milton's description of like debates, as to

"Fixed fate, free will, fore-knowledge absolute;

Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy."

The latter fits in best with the explanation which refers the previous verse to the Divine decrees, the former with that which has been adopted here.

what is man the better Literally, what profit (the word is another form of that which occurs so frequently), what outcome, is there for man?