The unfilled eye - Ecclesiastes 1:8; 4:8

I'm working through Ecclesiastes again for a daily devotion thing I'm sending out, and noticed a phrase pop up again which I hadn't previously. It's "the eye(s) is(are) not filled." 

It's an odd phrase because we don't think about eyes being filled, although it's not hard to make sense of it. It's also missed because the two occurrences are translated differently. In 1:8 the NIV has "the eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing." (has enough represents the verb שׂבע.) In 4:8 it comes across a little differently, "there was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. (not content represents the verb שׂבע.)

As you can see (no pun intended), the same verb with the same subject represents two different subjects which can never fill one's eyes. In the opening poem, it is the ever-changing world and innumerable experiences which can never fill the eyes. In the observation of the lonely man in chapter 4, it is greed which is the bottomless hole. Of course, it could be that greed for experiences in chapter 1 is what binds the two expressions together. Although it is described as wearying in chapter 1, it could well be that this is the reflection of someone who has spent life trying to experience enough (like Faust, perhaps) and has reached a point when they have lost all desire to learn anything or experience anything new (like the end of The Good Place, perhaps). 

It was also interesting to chase this phrase a bit further. "Not filled" is a phrase which occurs some 20 times in the Old Testament, fairly evenly divided between the prophets and the writings (only once in the Pentateuch, Lev. 26.26). 

Mostly the description of what one cannot be filled with (moving now beyond just the eye) is food as a punishment. "You will eat but not be satisfied" is the common way of expressing this. Usually a punishment, it can also be Yhwh's means of testing - when they realise this, will they turn back to me?

The next most common way this phrase is used is to do with idolatry, as people went whoring after the nations or after greed, but as they did so and were not satisfied, their idolatry was exposed. They pursued something they thought would satisfy their desires but were left nonetheless with a bottomless hole, a gaping pit that could not be filled. 

One interesting unsatisfiable was Sheol/Abbadon, which could not be satisfied with death. I'm not sure if this is negative or nature - if probably depends on the context (eg Prov 30:15-16). There was also one positive, which was Job's conative use, asking whether anyone ever went away from his feasts not satisfied (expecting the answer "no"). 

But for me it's the greed-idolatry one which stands out most clearly. The way God has ordered this world means that serving the god of greed is a service which can never end and never give satisfaction. When greed, the accumulation of wealth is your god, there can never be enough. You will sacrifice friendships to the altar of greed but you will still never the gifts from the hand of God of true friendship, of true security, of shelter in the storm (see Eccl. 4:7-12).