“As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.”
Qohelet's further reflection that this is a grievous evil, that one comes and goes the same way, with nothing gained, deepens the critique of wealth-seeking through explicit moral evaluation. The term "grievous evil" indicates that this condition of vanity is not neutral or acceptable but genuinely harmful. Yet the harm consists not in external punishment but in the wasted life—effort expended on accumulation that achieves nothing.
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