Ecclesiastes 3:13
in Ecclesiastes 3and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.
KJV
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
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This verse in Ecclesiastes 3
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhoever eats in a way that he takes his stomach to be God does not find anything good in eating and drinking, but rather ungodliness: "Such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own stomach."
This site's exposition
I know that there is nothing better for them
on Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
The Teacher draws his working conclusion from the poem: there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live. Verse 13 restates the refrain first heard at 2:24, every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction, and names it the gift of God.
This site's exposition
this is the gift of God
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe that the good things are enjoyed in their time when received as gifts of God and used for His glory. Didymus the Blind sets the limit. A man whose god is his stomach finds ungodliness at the table.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Thus I perceived that there is nothing good for each of them than to rejoice and do what is good in his life. Indeed every man who eats and drinks and finds satisfaction in all his labour- it is a gift from God."
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCommentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
And he adds the reason; whence he says: For every man who eats and drinks sees good from his labor, and there is a surplus of meaning here, so that the sense is: he who eats and drinks sees good from his labor, because he …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What have we our beings, capacities, and estates for, but to be some way serviceable to our generation? We mistake if we think we were born for ourselves. No; it is our business to do good; it is in doing good that there is the truest pleasure, and what is so laid out is best laid up and will turn to the best account.
2 ); but there is also a time to speak for the glory of God and the edification of others, when silence would be the betraying of a righteous cause, and when with the mouth confession is to be made to salvation; and it is a great part of Christian prudence to know when to speak and when to hold our peace.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Which is here added to prove the principal proposition, That all things below are vain, and happiness is not to be found in them, because of their great uncertainty, and mutability, and transitoriness, and because they are so much out of the reach and power of men, and wholly in the disposal of God.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And also that every man should eat and drink,....
The vanity of worldly honour and power, which are abused for the support of oppression and persecution if men be not governed by the fear of God in the use of them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Literally, "And also as to every man who eats . . . this is the gift of God" (Ec 3:22; When received as God's gifts, and to God's glory, the good things of life are enjoyed in their due time and order (Ac 2:46;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I know. Now, since the time of visitation [death] is concealed, that there is nothing better for man than to rejoice with his portion and to do that which is good in his Creator’s eyes, while he is yet alive.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְגַ֤ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָדָם֙ | haadam | <the> person | H120 → | 551 times |
| שֶׁיֹּאכַ֣ל | sheiyokhal | that he will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְשָׁתָ֔ה | veshatah | and he will drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| וְרָאָ֥ה | veraah | and he will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| ט֖וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲמָל֑וֹ | amalo | toil his | H5999 → | 55 times |
| מַתַּ֥ת | matat | [is] a gift of | H4991 → | |
| אֱלֹהִ֖ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הִֽיא׃ | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
וְגַ֤םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָדָם֙<the> person
haadamH120 →551 times
שֶׁיֹּאכַ֣לthat he will eat
sheiyokhalH398 →810 times
וְשָׁתָ֔הand he will drink
veshatahH8354 →217 times
וְרָאָ֥הand he will see
veraahH7200 →1300 times
ט֖וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
עֲמָל֑וֹtoil his
amaloH5999 →55 times
מַתַּ֥ת[is] a gift of
matatH4991 →
אֱלֹהִ֖יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
הִֽיא׃it
hi'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 128:2For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.
it leads to
- Isaiah 3:10
Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- Ecclesiastes 5:18–19
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 62:8
The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain to your enemies for food, nor will foreigners drink the new wine for which…
- Isaiah 65:21–23
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- Deuteronomy 28:4
The fruit of your womb will be blessed, as well as the produce of your land and the offspring of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
- Isaiah 3:10
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 3:12–13
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 3:12–13
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:24Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 8:15
So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 3:22
I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
- Ecclesiastes 8:15
Where this verse is studied
About Ecclesiastes
This page draws on Bonaventure, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Ecclesiastes; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES 86:2; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.