Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Ecclesiastes 5:10 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 10. 10He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse states that lovers of silver and abundance remain unsatisfied and calls this hebel.
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied
This verse is one part of that explanation in Ecclesiastes 5:10-12. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Ecclesiastes 5:10-12
Read Ecclesiastes 5:10 with 5:10-12. This verse states that lovers of silver and abundance remain unsatisfied and calls this hebel. The full unit establishes this movement: Love of silver and abundance cannot satisfy; as goods grow, claims on them grow, while a laborer's sleep may be sweet and a rich person's abundance can prevent rest.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The book moves from systems of extraction to the appetite and anxiety inside accumulation itself. Within that movement, this verse states that lovers of silver and abundance remain unsatisfied and calls this hebel.
Follow the Context
- The lover of silver remains unsatisfied by silver.
- Increasing goods bring increasing consumers.
- The owner's remaining benefit may be only visual possession.
- A worker sleeps after little or much food.
- The rich person's abundance can block sleep.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“shall not be satisfied”
In plain language: The appetite for wealth expands rather than reaching rest.
states that lovers of silver and abundance remain unsatisfied and calls this hebel. An appetite organized around increase cannot be filled by the thing it endlessly seeks.
Why it matters: The wording carries interpretive or ethical risk requiring the complete unit and stated limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The verse does not condemn all income, saving, investment, or material provision.
Dissatisfaction does not prove greed when basic needs or fair compensation are still unmet.
What Remains True
An appetite organized around increase cannot be filled by the thing it endlessly seeks.
How It Can Shape Life
- Define enough and use money toward security, justice, and generosity rather than identity.
Teach It Back
Explain Ecclesiastes 5:10's precise role in Ecclesiastes 5:10-12. Include the complete movement, one material uncertainty, and one conclusion the verse does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 — Silver Does Not SatisfySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The object of critique is love of money and gain, not possession alone.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 5:10-12, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 5:10-12
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1203-1204, translation and notes on 5:10-12
Open source ↗