Ecclesiastes 2:23

Ecclesiastes 2:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
• New International Version (NIV)All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.

Context of Ecclesiastes 2:23

21For there is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, yet gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22For what does a man get from all his labor and from the striving and sorrow of his heart with which he labors under the sun? For all his days his work is painful and sorrowful; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity (worthless). 24There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and assure himself that there is good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God. 25For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

Ecclesiastes 2:23 word by word

כִּ֧י כָל־יָמָ֣יו מַכְאֹבִ֗ים וָכַ֙עַס֙ עִנְיָנ֔וֹ גַּם־בַּלַּ֖יְלָה לֹא־שָׁכַ֣ב לִבּ֑וֹ גַּם־זֶ֖ה הֶ֥בֶל הֽוּא׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For all his daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• sorrowsמַכְאוֹבmak'ôb mak'ôb mak'ôbâh · painH4341
• and his travailעִנְיָן‛inyân · taskH6045
• griefכַּ֫עַסka‛as ka‛aώ · vexationH3708
• yea, his heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
• taketh not restשָׁכַבshâkab · to lie down: sleepH7901
• in the nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• This is also vanityהֶ֫בֶלhebel hăbêl · vanityH1892

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 2:23

• Genesis 47:9Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. Few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, and they have not reached the years that my fathers lived during the days of their pilgrimage.”
• Job 5:7For man is born for trouble, [As naturally] as sparks fly upward.
• Job 14:1“Man, who is born of a woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil.
• Psalms 90:7For we have been consumed by Your anger And by Your wrath we have been terrified.
• Psalms 127:2It is vain for you to rise early, To retire late, To eat the bread of anxious labors— For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.
• Ecclesiastes 5:12The sleep of a working man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach (greed) of the rich [who hungers for even more] will not let him sleep.
• Esther 6:1On that night the king could not sleep; so he ordered that the book of records and memorable deeds, the chronicles, be brought, and they were read before the king.
• Job 7:13When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, My couch will ease my complaint,’
• Psalms 6:6I am weary with my groaning; Every night I soak my bed with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping.
• Psalms 32:4For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me; My energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah.
• Psalms 77:2In the day of my trouble I [desperately] sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out [in prayer] without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted.
• Daniel 6:18Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no music or entertainment was brought before him, and he remained unable to sleep.
• Acts 14:22strengthening and establishing the hearts of the disciples; encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, saying, “It is through many tribulations and hardships that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23His days are sorrows - What a picture of human life where the heart is not filled with the peace and love of God! All his days are sorrows; all his labors griefs; all his nights restless; for he has no portion but merely what earth can give; and that is embittered by the labor of acquisition, and the disappointment in the using. This is also vanity - Emptiness of good and substantial misery.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-26Verses 18-26 Our hearts are very loth to quit their expectations of great things from the creature; but Solomon came to this at length. The world is a vale of tears, even to those that have much of it. See what fools they are, who make themselves drudges to the world, which affords a man nothing better than subsistence for the body. And the utmost he can attain in this respect is to allow himself a sober, cheerful use thereof, according to his rank and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-23The Teacher now examines the value of wisdom (Ecclesiastes 2:12–17) and hard work (2:18–23). These, too, are futile (Ecclesiastes 2:17).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. The only fruit he has is, not only sorrows in his days, but all his days are sorrows, and his travail (not only has griefs connected with it, but is itself), grief.Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 2:23

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Gather
• Laughter
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings