Ecclesiastes 3:9 BSB

Ecclesiastes 3:9

What does the worker gain from his toil?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?

KJV

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

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Commentary

1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

But these earthly pursuits, while lawful in their season, are "unprofitable" when made by man, what God never intended them to be, the chief good. Solomon had tried to create an artificial forced joy, at times when he ought rather to have been serious; the result, therefore, of his labor to be happy, out of God's order, was disappointment.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

6 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
מַה־	mah-	what?	H4100 →
יִּתְרוֹן֙	yit.rOn	[is] [the] profit of	H3504 →
הָֽעוֹשֶׂ֔ה	ha.'o.Seh	the worker	H6213 →
בַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר	ba.'a.Sher	in [that] which	H834 →
ה֥וּא	hu'	he	H1931 →
עָמֵֽל׃	'a.Mel	[is] a laborer	H6001 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Proverbs 14:23
There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
leads to
- Proverbs 28:19
  The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
- Proverbs 12:24
  The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10–12
  For even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “If anyone is unwilling to work, he shall not eat.”
- Hebrews 6:10–11
  For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- Ecclesiastes 5:3
  As a dream comes through many cares, so the speech of a fool comes with many words.
Through
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Yet 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…
leads to
- Ecclesiastes 1:3
  What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- 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.
Through
Ecclesiastes 1:3
What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
leads to
- John 6:27
  Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.

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Walks through Ecclesiastes 3

Creation to New Creation

The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city — and the city has the garden in the middle of it. Seven explicit textual echoes bind Genesis 1–2 to Revelation 21–22.

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Walks through Ecclesiastes 3

Vanity Under the Sun — Ecclesiastes

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About Ecclesiastes

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Ecclesiastes: the study guide →Read chapter 3 →The featured study →

Continue: Ecclesiastes 3 →

01Commentary

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Ecclesiastes

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Ecclesiastes