Ecclesiastes 2:22

Bishop's Bible

For what getteth a man of all the labour and trauayle of his mynde that he taketh vnder the sunne?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?

Hebrew Names Version
For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?

King James Version
For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

English Standard Version
What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?

New American Standard Bible
For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?

New Century Version
What do people get for all their work and struggling here on earth?

Amplified Bible
For what does a man get from all his labor and from the striving and sorrow of his heart with which he labors under the sun?

World English Bible
For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?

Geneva Bible (1587)
For what hath man of all his trauaile and griefe of his heart, wherein he hath trauailed vnder the sunne?

Legacy Standard Bible
For what does a man get in all his labor and in the striving of his heart with which he labors under the sun?

Berean Standard Bible
For what does a man get for all the labor and endeavors at which he toils under the sun?

Contemporary English Version
What do we really gain from all of our hard work?

Complete Jewish Bible
For what does a person get from all his efforts and ambitions permeating the work he does under the sun?

Darby Translation
For what will man have of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun?

Easy-to-Read Version
What do people really have after all their work and struggling in this life?

George Lamsa Translation
For what profit shall a man have of all his labor and of the desire of his heart wherein he has labored under the sun?

Good News Translation
You work and worry your way through life, and what do you have to show for it?

Lexham English Bible
For what does a person receive for all his toil and in the longing of his heart with which he toils under the sun?

Literal Translation
For what is there for man in all his labor, and in striving of his heart, which he did as a laborer under the sun?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For what getteth a ma of all ye labor & trauayle of his mynde, yt he taketh vnder the Sonne,

American Standard Version
For what hath a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboreth under the sun?

Bible in Basic English
What does a man get for all his work, and for the weight of care with which he has done his work under the sun?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?

King James Version (1611)
For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart wherein hee hath laboured vnder the Sunne?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
For it happens to a man in all his labour, and in the purpose of his heart wherein he labours under the sun.

English Revised Version
For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For whi what schal it profite to a man of al his trauel, and turment of spirit, bi which he was turmentid vndur sunne?

Update Bible Version
For what has man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he labors under the sun?

Webster's Bible Translation
For what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, in which he hath labored under the sun?

New English Translation
What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?

New King James Version
For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?

New Living Translation
So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?

New Life Bible
For what does a man get from all his work and trouble under the sun?

New Revised Standard
What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For what hath the man for all his toil, and for the striving of his heart, - wherein, he himself, toiled under the sun?

Douay-Rheims Bible
For what profit shall a man have of all his labour, and vexation of spirit, with which he hath been tormented under the sun?

Revised Standard Version
What has a man from all the toil and strain with which he toils beneath the sun?

Young's Literal Translation
For what hath been to a man by all his labour, and by the thought of his heart that he laboured at under the sun?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For what does a man get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ Thus began I to be weery of my life, insomuch that I coulde away with nothyng that is done vnder the sunne: for all was but vanitie and vexation of mynde. ¹⁸ Yea I was weery of my labour which I had taken vnder the sunne, because I shoulde be fayne to leaue them vnto another man that commeth after me: ¹⁹ And who knoweth whether he shalbe a wise man or a foole? And yet shall he be lorde of all my laboures which I with such wisdome haue taken vnder the sunne: This is also a vayne thyng. ²⁰ So I turned me to refrayne my mynde from all such trauayle as I toke vnder the sunne, ²¹ Forsomuch as a man shoulde weery hym selfe with wisdome, with vnderstandyng and oportunitie, and yet be fayne to leaue his labours vnto another that neuer sweat for them: This is also a vayne thyng, and great miserie. ²² For what getteth a man of all the labour and trauayle of his mynde that he taketh vnder the sunne? ²³ But heauinesse, sorowe, and disquietnesse all the dayes of his life? Insomuch that his heart can not rest in the nyght: This is also a vayne thyng. ²⁴ Is it not better then for a man to eate and drynke, and his soule to be mery in his labour? yea I sawe that this also was a gift of God. ²⁵ For who wyll eate or go more lustyly to his worke then I? ²⁶ And why? God geueth to the man that is good before hym, wisdome, vnderstandyng, and gladnesse: but vnto the sinner he geueth weerinesse, that he may gather and heape together the thyng that afterwarde shalbe geuen vnto hym whom it pleaseth God: This is nowe a vayne thyng, yea a very disquietnesse and vexation of mynde.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

hath man: Ecclesiastes 1:3, Ecclesiastes 3:9, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Ecclesiastes 5:11, Ecclesiastes 5:17, Ecclesiastes 6:7, Ecclesiastes 6:8, Ecclesiastes 8:15, Proverbs 16:26, 1 Timothy 6:8

and of the: Ecclesiastes 4:6, Ecclesiastes 4:8, Psalms 127:2, Matthew 6:11, Matthew 6:25, Matthew 6:34, Matthew 16:26, Luke 12:22, Luke 12:29, Philippians 4:6, 1 Peter 5:7

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:17 - in sorrow Job 5:7 - trouble Ecclesiastes 2:10 - my heart rejoiced Ecclesiastes 2:17 - for Ecclesiastes 5:16 - a sore Ecclesiastes 6:9 - this Matthew 11:28 - all

Cross-References

Genesis 2:8
And the Lord God planted a garden eastwarde in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had shapen.

Genesis 2:9
Moreouer, out of the grounde made the Lorde God to growe euery tree, that was fayre to syght, and pleasaunt to eate: The tree of lyfe in the myddest of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and euyll.

Genesis 2:19
And so out of the grounde the Lorde God had shapen euery beast of the field, and euery foule of the ayre, and brought it vnto man, that he myght see howe he woulde call it. For lykewyse as man hym selfe named euery lyuyng thyng, euen so was the name therof.

Psalms 127:1
If GOD wyll not buylde the house, they labour in vayne that buylde it: if God kepe not the citie, the watchman waketh in vayne.

Proverbs 18:22
Who so findeth a wyfe, findeth a good thing, and receaueth fauour of the Lorde.

Proverbs 19:14
House and riches may a man haue by the heritage of his elders: but a discrete woman is the gyft of the Lorde.

1 Timothy 2:13
For Adam was first fourmed, then Eue.

Hebrews 13:4
Wedlocke is honorable among all men, and the bed vndefiled: But whoremongers and adulterers God wyll iudge.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart?.... What profit has he by it, when there is so much vexation in it, both in getting it, and in the thought of leaving it to others? What advantage is it to him, when it is all acquired for and possessed by another; and especially of what use is it to him after his death? Even of all

wherein he hath laboured under the sun? the Targum adds, "in this world"; though he has been labouring all his days, yet there is not one thing he has got by his labour that is of any real advantage to him, or can yield him any solid comfort and satisfaction, or bring him true happiness, or lead him to it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Solomon having found that wisdom and folly agree in being subject to vanity, now contrasts one with the other Ecclesiastes 2:13. Both are brought under vanity by events Ecclesiastes 2:14 which come on the wise man and the feel alike from without - death and oblivion Ecclesiastes 2:16, uncertainty Ecclesiastes 2:19, disappointment Ecclesiastes 2:21 - all happening by an external law beyond human control. Amidst this vanity, the good (see Ecclesiastes 2:10 note) that accrues to man, is the pleasure felt Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 in receiving God’s gifts, and in working with and for them.

Ecclesiastes 2:12

What can the man do ... - i. e., “What is any man - in this study of wisdom and folly - after one like me, who, from my position, have had such special advantages (see Ecclesiastes 1:16, and compare Ecclesiastes 2:25) for carrying it on? That which man did of old he can but do again: he is not likely to add to the result of my researches, nor even to equal them.” Some hold that the “man” is a reference to Solomon’s successor - not in his inquiries, but in his kingdom, i. e., Jeroboam.

Ecclesiastes 2:14

Event - Or, “hap” Ruth 2:3. The verb from which it is derived seems in this book to refer especially to death. The word does not mean chance (compare Ecclesiastes 9:1-2), independent of the ordering of Divine Providence: the Gentile notion of “mere chance,” or “blind fate,” is never once contemplated by the writer of this book, and it would be inconsistent with his tenets of the unlimited power and activity of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:16

Seeing that ... - Compare Ecclesiastes 1:11. Some render, “as in time past, so in days to come, all will be forgotten;” others, “because in the days to come all will have been long before forgotten.”

Ecclesiastes 2:17

I hated life - Compare this expression, extorted from Solomon by the perception of the vanity of his wisdom and greatness, with Romans 8:22-23. The words of Moses Numbers 11:15, and of Job Job 3:21; Job 6:9, are scarcely less forcible. With some people, this feeling is a powerful motive to conversion Luke 14:26.

Ecclesiastes 2:19

Labour - Compare Ecclesiastes 2:4-8.

Ecclesiastes 2:20

I went about - i. e., I turned from one course of action to another.

Ecclesiastes 2:23

Are sorrows ... grief - Rather, sorrows and grief are his toil. See Ecclesiastes 1:13.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

Nothing better for a man, than that ... - literally, no good in man that etc. The one joy of working or receiving, which, though it be transitory, a man recognizes as a real good, even that is not in the power of man to secure for himself: that good is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

The doctrine of retribution, or, the revealed fact that God is the moral Governor of the world, is here stated for the first time (compare Ecclesiastes 3:15, Ecclesiastes 3:17 ff) in this book.

This also is vanity - Not only the travail of the sinner. Even the best gifts of God, wisdom, knowledge, and joy, so far as they are given in this life, are not permanent, and are not always (see Ecclesiastes 9:11) efficacious for the purpose for which they appear to be given.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 22. For what hath man of all his laborer — Labour of body, disappointment of hope, and vexation of heart, have been all my portion.