Ecclesiastes 1:3
in Ecclesiastes 1What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
What profit hath man of all his labor wherein he laboreth under the sun?
KJV
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 1
Commentary
13 notes on this verse"What profit is there for a man in exchange for all his toil, which he toils under the sun?" After the general opinion that all things are vain Solomon begins to explain with regard to mankind: because men exert themselves in vain in the toil of the world, amassing wealth, teaching children, working their way towards glory, constructing buildings, and then are taken away in the midst of their work by sudden death, they hear the words: "Thou fool, this night your soul shall be required of you, then whose will be those things that you have amassed?" [Luc.
This site's exposition
What does a man gain from all his labor
What does a man gain from all his labor states the book's question in the language of the ledger, gain applied to a whole life. The phrase under the sun recurs through the book and names the vantage of the search, life as it appears from ground level.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
So this is what the rich should do: not be haughty in their ideas, nor set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who bestows all things on us abundantly for our enjoyment; that is what they must do. But what are they to do with what they have? Let me tell you what: "Let them be rich in good works, let them be easy givers." After all, they have the wherewithal. Poverty is difficult and grim. "Let them be easy givers"; they have the wherewithal. Let them share, that is, take some notice of their fellow mortals. "Let them share, let them store up for themselves a good foundation for the future." "You see," he says, "just because I say 'Let them be easy givers, let them share,' it doesn't mean I want them looted, want them stripped naked, want them left empty. I am teaching them how to make a profit, when I point out, 'Let them store up for themselves.' I'm not telling them to do this so that they can lose it; I'm showing them where to transfer the account. 'Let them store up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they lay hold of true life.' " So this one is a false life; let them lay hold of true life. After all, "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. What is this great abundance for man in all his toil, at which he toils under the sun?" So true life is to be laid hold of, our investments are to be transferred to the place of true life, so that we may find there what we give here. The one who transforms us also transforms those investments.
If it is a vain thing to do good works for the sake of human praise, how much more vain for the sake of getting money, or increasing it, or retaining it, and any other temporal advantage, which comes unto us from without? Since "all things are vanity: what is man's abundance, with all his toil, wherein he labors under the sun?" For our temporal welfare itself finally we ought not to do our good works but rather for the sake of that everlasting welfare which we hope for, where we may enjoy an unchangeable good, which we shall have from God, nay, what God himself is unto us. For if God's saints were to do good works for the sake of this temporal welfare, never would the martyrs of Christ achieve a good work.
Those who are rich in things that are valued in the realm of the natural do not gain anything. They do not gain longevity. Rich and poor are in the same situation: they go through life quickly and do not stay for a long time. …
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Again, civil war is the temptation of the world. Indeed, every creature is a trap. Hence the saying: Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun? Vain and worthless is anything …
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Above he proposed what he intends to prove; here he begins to prove it. And just as a threefold vanity was proposed to exist in things, so also a threefold vanity is proved to exist. Whence this part has three parts. For first he shows …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is labour under the sun; that is a phrase peculiar to this book, where we meet with it twenty-eight times. There is a world above the sun, a world which needs not the sun, for the glory of God is its light, where there is work without labour and with great profit, the work of angels; but he speaks of the work under the sun, the pains of which are great and the gains little.
All is unprofitable as to the attainment of that happiness which all men are enquiring after. His labour - Hebrew. his toilsome labour, both of body and mind in the pursuit of riches, or pleasures, or other earthly things. Under the sun - In all worldly matters, which are usually transacted in the day time, or by the light of the sun.
What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? This is a general proof of the vanity of all things, since there is no profit arises to a man of all his labour; for, though it is put by way of question, it carries in it a strong negative.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
What profit ... - The question often repeated is the great practical inquiry of the book; it receives its final answer in Ecc 12:13-14. When this question was asked, the Lord had not yet spoken Mat 11:28. The word “profit” (or pre-eminence) is opposed to “vanity.” Hath a man - Rather, hath man.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
What profit . . . labour--that is, "What profit" as to the chief good (Mt 16:26). Labor is profitable in its proper place (Ge 2:15; Pr 14:23). under the sun--that is, in this life, as opposed to the future world.
What profit hath a man - What is the sum of the real good he has gained by all his toils in life? They, in themselves, have neither made him contented nor happy.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יִּתְר֖וֹן | yitron | profit | H3504 → | 10 times |
| לָֽאָדָ֑ם | laadam | [belongs] to <the> humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲמָל֔וֹ | amalo | toil his | H5999 → | 55 times |
| שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל | sheiyaamol | that he toils | H5998 → | 11 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | 134 times |
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
יִּתְר֖וֹןprofit
yitronH3504 →10 times
לָֽאָדָ֑ם[belongs] to <the> humankind
laadamH120 →551 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
עֲמָל֔וֹtoil his
amaloH5999 →55 times
שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖לthat he toils
sheiyaamolH5998 →11 times
תַּ֥חַתunder
tachatH8478 →505 times
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃the sun
hashameshH8121 →134 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
Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 1:14
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.
- 1 John 2:16–17
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Ecclesiastes 1:14
Through
Ecclesiastes 5:16This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
it leads to
- Proverbs 11:29
He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
- Proverbs 11:29
Through
Ecclesiastes 3:9What does the worker gain from his toil?
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 5:16
This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
- Proverbs 14:23
There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
- Ecclesiastes 5:16
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:22For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
it leads to
- Psalms 127:2
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat— for He gives sleep to His beloved.
- Ecclesiastes 4:6
Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Psalms 127:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 61:11; Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 119:38; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 11:18; 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.