The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moreover the profit of the earth is for all. The king profits from the field.
- KJV Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.
- NKJV Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.
- NASB After all, a king who cultivates the field is beneficial to the land.
- NLT Even the king milks the land for his own profit!
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 land's produce benefits everyone, and even the king depends on the cultivated field. It matters as a reminder that all, high and low, are sustained by the same God-given earth.
Overview
This compact and somewhat debated verse affirms the value of agriculture as a common good. Even royalty profits from the worked land, underscoring shared dependence on God's provision. While the Hebrew is difficult, the general sense commends the dignity of labor and the providence by which God supplies all people, the same providence that crowns the year with His goodness (Psalm 65:11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Kgs 4:7–23Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel to provide food for the king and his household. Each one would arrange provisions for one month of the year,
- Ps 115:16The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth He has given to mankind.
- Gen 1:29–30Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
- Ps 104:14–15He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
- 1 Sam 8:12–17He will appoint some for himself as commanders of thousands and of fifties, and others to plow his ground, to reap his harvest, to make his weapons of war, and to equip his chariots.
- Prov 27:23–27Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
- Gen 3:17–19And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
- Jer 40:10–12As for me, I will stay in Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us. As for you, gather wine grapes, summer fruit, and oil, place them in your storage jars, and live in the cities you have taken.”
- Prov 13:23Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but without justice it is swept away.
- Prov 28:19The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
- 1 Chr 27:26–31Ezri son of Chelub was in charge of the workers in the fields who tilled the soil.
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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 5:9 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.