What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
Parallel translations
- WEB What does man gain from all his labor in which he labors under the sun?
- BSB What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
- NKJV What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
- NASB ¶What advantage does a person have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
- NLT What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
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 asks what lasting profit a person gains from all their toil. The implied answer is that earthly labor, on its own terms, yields no enduring gain.
Overview
The phrase 'under the sun' frames the inquiry within the limits of this fallen, mortal world apart from eternity. Human work, however great, cannot secure permanent benefit because death undoes it. The question exposes the emptiness of living for earthly gain alone and points toward needing a treasure that outlasts this life, which the gospel supplies in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Eccl 3:9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
- Eccl 5:16And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
- Eccl 2:22For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
- Eccl 2:11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
- Mark 8:36–37For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
- John 6:27Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
- Prov 23:4–5Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
- Eccl 2:19And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity.
- Isa 55:2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
- Matt 16:26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Hab 2:13Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
- Eccl 8:15–17Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
- Eccl 9:3This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
- Eccl 5:18Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.
- Eccl 9:13This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:
- Eccl 4:3Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
- Eccl 9:6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
- Eccl 6:12For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun?
- Eccl 7:11Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.
- Eccl 4:7Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun.
- Hab 2:18What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
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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 1:3 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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