Ecclesiastes 3:9

Ecclesiastes 3:9 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
• New International Version (NIV)What do workers gain from their toil?
• English Standard Version (ESV)What gain has the worker from his toil?
• New King James Version (NKJV)What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?

Context of Ecclesiastes 3:9

7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to keep silent and a time to speak. 8A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. What profit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? 10I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. 11He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3:9 word by word

מַה־יִּתְרוֹן֙ הָֽעוֹשֶׂ֔ה בַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר ה֥וּא עָמֵֽל׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• What profitיִתְרוֹןyithrôn · advantageH3504
• hath he that workethעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• in that whereinבַאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · in whichH834
• he labourethעָמֵל‛âmêl · laboriousH6001

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 3:9

• Ecclesiastes 1:3What advantage does man have from all his work Which he does under the sun (while earthbound)?
• Ecclesiastes 2:11Then I considered all which my hands had done and labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and chasing after the wind and there was no profit (nothing of lasting value) under the sun.
• Ecclesiastes 5:16This also is a grievous evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?
• Proverbs 14:23In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty.
• Matthew 16:26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3:9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9What profit hath he - What real good, what solid pleasure, is derived from all the labors of man? Necessity drives him to the principal part of his cares and toils; he labors that he may eat and drink; and he eats and drinks that he may be preserved alive, and kept from sickness and pain. Love of money, the basest of all passions, and restless ambition, drive men to many labors and expedients, which perplex and often destroy them. He, then, who lives…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9gain from his toil?: See Ecclesiastes 3:12–13.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. But these earthly pursuits, while lawful in their season, are "unprofitable" when made by man, what God never intended them to be, the chief good. Solomon had tried to create an artificial forced joy, at times when he ought rather to have been serious; the result, therefore, of his labor to be happy, out of God's order, was disappointment. "A time to plant" (Ec 3:2) refers to his planting (Ec 2:5); "laugh" (Ec 3:4), to Ec 2:1, 2; "his mirth,"…Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• Dance
• Judge
• Providence
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings