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.
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.
- BSB 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!
- 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 travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
- Gen 3:19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
- Eccl 8:16–17When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
- 1 Tim 4:15Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
- Eccl 1:17And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
- Eccl 7:25I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
- Eccl 12:12And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
- Prov 4:7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
- Eccl 2:26For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Prov 2:2–4So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
- Eccl 2:23For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
- Prov 18:15The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.
- Eccl 4:4Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.
- Ps 111:2The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
- Prov 23:26My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
- Eccl 8:9All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
- Prov 18:1Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.