For a man seldom considers the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.
- KJV For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
- NKJV For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
- NASB For he will not often call to mind the years of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
- NLT God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
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 one to whom God gives such joy is so occupied with gladness that he scarcely broods over the brevity of life. It matters because God-given joy quiets the anxiety that life's shortness provokes.
Overview
The Preacher concludes that those who receive God's gift of joy are kept from dwelling morbidly on life's fleeting days. The joy God supplies is itself a mercy that steadies the heart. This anticipates the deeper joy of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and the peace that guards believers' hearts in Christ (Philippians 4:7), even amid life's brevity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 65:21–24They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- Ps 37:16Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.
- Isa 65:13–14Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
- Ps 4:6–7Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
- Rom 5:1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
- Deut 28:47Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- Deut 28:8–12The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.
- Isa 64:5You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?
- Rom 5:5–11And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
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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 5:20 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.