And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
Parallel translations
- WEB I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under the sky. It is a heavy burden that God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
- KJV And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
- NKJV And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.
- NASB And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom about everything that has been done under heaven. It is a sorry task with which God has given the sons of mankind to be troubled.
- NLT I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Preacher devoted his wisdom to studying all that is done under heaven, calling it a heavy, God-given burden. Honest investigation of life's labors proves wearying and grievous.
Overview
Qoheleth applies disciplined wisdom to examine human activity comprehensively. He recognizes that the very task of seeking meaning is a burdensome affliction God has appointed to humanity. This 'unhappy business' reflects life under the curse, yet it also drives the seeker to acknowledge that satisfying answers must come from God rather than from human searching alone.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Eccl 3:10I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.
- Gen 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
- Eccl 8:16–17When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
- 1 Tim 4:15Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.
- Eccl 1:17So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
- Eccl 7:25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
- Eccl 12:12And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body.
- Prov 4:7Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
- Eccl 2:26To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Prov 2:2–4if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
- Eccl 2:23Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
- Prov 18:15The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out.
- Eccl 4:4I saw that all labor and success spring from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- Ps 111:2Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them.
- Prov 23:26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
- Eccl 8:9All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
- Prov 18:1He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 1:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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