Ecclesiastes 1:8
in Ecclesiastes 1All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
KJV
All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseTherefore incline to him of whom the psalmist says, "He has not taken his soul in vain." To speak now of the troubles of this life, the person has taken his soul in vain who is constructing the things of the world and building the things of the body. We arise each day to eat and drink; yet no one is filled so that he does not hunger and thirst after a short time. Daily we seek profit, and to greed there is set no limit. "The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing."
This site's exposition
All things are wearisome
All things are wearisome, more than one can describe draws the poem's conclusion. Inside the senses, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. The verse gives the chapter two witnesses, the world's own cycles and the human hunger that watches them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
All writings, both of secular and of divine wisdom, yield instruction when effort is applied.
"All things are full of toil, man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing. "It is difficult to know not just about physics but also about ethics. And discourse is not able to explain the natural causes of things, nor to see those things that are hidden, (as the scope of this work demands); nor, once you have begun to learn is it possible to arrive at the greatest understanding by listening alone. For if we now look in the mirror in mystery and in part know and in part prophesy, consequently discourse will not be able to explain what it does not know; nor is the eye able to see where it is blind; nor are the ears filled by what they do not hear. At the same time this must be noted, that all words are wearying and are learnt with great difficulty, contrary to those who idly make prayers that an acquaintance with the Scriptures will come to them.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureOn the Reduction of the Arts to Theology · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
If moreover we consider the delight, we shall perceive the union of God and the soul. For every sense seeks its fitting sensible object with desire, finds it with joy, and returns to it without weariness, because the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor …
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Above, the vanity in things was determined according to the being which they have in the universe: here vanity is determined according to the being which they have in the human intellect: and vanity is shown in them in three ways: first, because they are …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
We must therefore look above the sun for satisfaction, and for a new world. That this world is, at the best, a weary land: All is vanity, for all is full of labour. The whole creation is made subject to this vanity ever since man was sentenced to eat bread in the sweat of his brows.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Is not satisfied - As there are many things in the world vexatious to men, so even those things which are comfortable, are not satisfactory, but men are constantly desiring some longer continuance or fuller enjoyment of them, or variety in them.
All things are full of labour,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The eye and ear are two of the taskmasters for which man toils. But these are never "satisfied" (Ec 6:7; Nor can they be so hereafter, for there will be nothing "new." Not so the chief good, Jesus Christ (Joh 4:13, 14;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
All things are full of labor - It is; impossible to calculate how much anxiety, pain, labor, and fatigue are necessary in order to carry on the common operations of life. But an endless desire of gain, and an endless curiosity to unfitness a variety of results, cause men to, labor on. The eye sees much, but wishes to, see more. The ear hears of many things; but is curious to have the actual knowledge of them. So desire and curiosity carry men, under the Divine providence, through all the labors and pains of life.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
All things ... utter it - This clause, as here translated, refers to the immensity of labor. Others translate it, “all words are full of labor; they make weary the hearers,” or “are feeble or insufficient” to tell the whole; and are referred to the impossibility of adequately describing labor.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַדְּבָרִ֣ים | hadevarim | <the> things | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְגֵעִ֔ים | yegeim | [are] wearisome | H3023 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יוּכַ֥ל | yukhal | he is able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| אִ֖ישׁ | ʾish | anyone | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לְדַבֵּ֑ר | ledaber | to speak [them] | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׂבַּ֥ע | tisba' | it is satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| עַ֙יִן֙ | ʾayin | an eye | H5869 → | 887 times |
| לִרְא֔וֹת | lirot | by seeing | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִמָּלֵ֥א | timale' | it is filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| אֹ֖זֶן | ʾozen | an ear | H241 → | |
| מִשְּׁמֹֽעַ׃ | mishemoa' | from hearing | H8085 → | 1159 times |
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הַדְּבָרִ֣ים<the> things
hadevarimH1697 →1440 times
יְגֵעִ֔ים[are] wearisome
yegeimH3023 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יוּכַ֥לhe is able
yukhalH3201 →194 times
אִ֖ישׁanyone
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לְדַבֵּ֑רto speak [them]
ledaberH1696 →1141 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׂבַּ֥עit is satisfied
tisba'H7646 →97 times
עַ֙יִן֙an eye
ʾayinH5869 →887 times
לִרְא֔וֹתby seeing
lirotH7200 →1300 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תִמָּלֵ֥אit is filled
timale'H4390 →249 times
אֹ֖זֶןan ear
ʾozenH241 →
מִשְּׁמֹֽעַ׃from hearing
mishemoa'H8085 →1159 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
Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:29
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
- John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- John 6:37
Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.
- Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- Isaiah 55:1–3
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Matthew 11:29
Through
Proverbs 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:16
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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 30:15–16
The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
- Ecclesiastes 6:7
All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
- 1 John 2:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on 13 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); Ambrose of Milan, DEATH AS A GOOD 7:28; Bonaventure, On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology; Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 1:8.