For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
Parallel translations
- WEB For what has a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, in which he labors under the sun?
- KJV For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
- NKJV For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?
- NASB For what does a person get in all his labor and in his striving with which he labors under the sun?
- NLT So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety?
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
He asks what a person really gains from all the toil and anxious striving of life. The implied answer is that such striving yields no lasting profit.
Overview
Qoheleth poses again the book's central question about the net gain of human labor. The mention of striving and anxiety captures the inner toll that ceaseless work exacts. This pointed question dismantles confidence in self-made gain and prepares the reader to receive contentment as a gift from God rather than an achievement of effort.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 127:2In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
- Eccl 1:3What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
- Matt 6:34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.
- Phil 4:6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Eccl 4:6Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and pursuit of the wind.
- 1 Tim 6:8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
- Eccl 3:9What does the worker gain from his toil?
- 1 Pet 5:7Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
- Eccl 4:8There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
- Matt 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Eccl 6:7–8All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
- Eccl 8:15So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
- Matt 6:11Give us this day our daily bread.
- Eccl 5:17Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.
- Eccl 5:10–11He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
- Luke 12:22Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
- Prov 16:26A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger drives him onward.
- Matt 6:25Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
- Luke 12:29And do not be concerned about what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it.
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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 2:22 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.