Ecclesiastes 2:23
in Ecclesiastes 2Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For all his days are but sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
KJV
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseNot only does it not profit, but rather it harms: whence he adds: "All his days are full of labors and sorrows," outwardly: "nor does his mind rest at night," inwardly. Therefore it is said in Job 7: "I have numbered empty months and wearisome …
This site's exposition
For what does a man get for all the toil
on Ecclesiastes 2:22-23
The Teacher totals the account, asking what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun. The answer is the cost: all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful, and at night, his mind does not rest.
This site's exposition
his mind does not rest
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that the task is sorrow and grief, and Wesley adds that the man's sleep at night is broken by cares. Clarke calls the verse a picture of life when the heart lacks the peace of God. Henry sends such workers to Christ for rest.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"So I turned my heart to despair of all that I had achieved by toiling under the sun. For there is a man who laboured with wisdom, knowledge and skill, yet he must hand on his portion to one who has not toiled for it. This too is vanity and a great evil. For what has a man in return for all his toil and his stress, which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are painful, and his business is a vexation; even at night his mind has no rest. This, too, is vanity!"
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Prooemium · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The world is vain also because it does not give rest to the one who labors, and therefore he who labors for worldly things labors in vain: Ecclesiastes 2: What does it profit a man from all his labor, by which he labors under the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Those that are apt to fret find that the more dealings they have in the world the oftener they are made to fret. The world is a vale of tears, even to those that have much of it. Those that labour are said to be heavy-laden, and are therefore called to come to Christ for rest, Matt. xi.
Sorrows - Full of sorrows. Tho' he took great and unwearied pains all his days, yet the toils of his body were accompanied with vexation of mind. His heart - Because his sleep was broken with perplexing cares.
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
His days are sorrows - What a picture of human life where the heart is not filled with the peace and love of God! All his days are sorrows; all his labors griefs; all his nights restless; for he has no portion but merely what earth can give; and that is embittered by the labor of acquisition, and the disappointment in the using. This is also vanity - Emptiness of good and substantial misery.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The only fruit he has is, not only sorrows in his days, but all his days are sorrows, and his travail (not only has griefs connected with it, but is itself), grief.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֧י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יָמָ֣יו | yamav | days his | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| מַכְאֹבִ֗ים | makhovim | [are] pains | H4341 → | |
| וָכַ֙עַס֙ | vakhaas | and [is] vexation | H3708 → | 25 times |
| עִנְיָנ֔וֹ | inyano | task his | H6045 → | 8 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| בַּלַּ֖יְלָה | balaylah | in the night | H3915 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁכַ֣ב | shakhav | it rests | H7901 → | |
| לִבּ֑וֹ | libo | heart his | H3820 → | 595 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| זֶ֖ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| הֶ֥בֶל | hevel | [is] futility | H1892 → | 73 times |
| הֽוּא׃ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
כִּ֧יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
יָמָ֣יוdays his
yamavH3117 →2304 times
מַכְאֹבִ֗ים[are] pains
makhovimH4341 →
וָכַ֙עַס֙and [is] vexation
vakhaasH3708 →25 times
עִנְיָנ֔וֹtask his
inyanoH6045 →8 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
בַּלַּ֖יְלָהin the night
balaylahH3915 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁכַ֣בit rests
shakhavH7901 →
לִבּ֑וֹheart his
liboH3820 →595 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
זֶ֖הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
הֶ֥בֶל[is] futility
hevelH1892 →73 times
הֽוּא׃it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 127:2In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat— for He gives sleep to His beloved.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 5:12
The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
- Psalms 4:8
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
- Job 11:18
You will be secure, because there is hope, and you will look around and lie down in safety.
- Psalms 3:5
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
- Ecclesiastes 5:12
Through
Job 14:1“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
it leads to
Through
Job 5:7Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
it leads to
- Job 14:1
“Man, who is born of woman, is short of days and full of trouble.
- Job 14:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
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About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 2; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Prooemium; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.