The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep.
All Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5:12 Go To Ecclesiastes 5
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Ecclesiastes sees that riches are kept for ill by one who possesses them, for their loss causes a very great anxiety and disquiet. Indeed they are lost, for they are left here and can be of no advantage to one who is dead. And so, the dead man felt anxiety in regard to them and could not find rest; he left what would bring him shame and did not take with himself what he could keep. He was far different from him of whom it is written, “Blessed is the man that has filled his desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he speaks to his enemies in the gate.” His inheritance is the Lord, his reward is from the offspring of the Virgin Mary, and he is extolled with praises in the going forth of wisdom. .
