Ecclesiastes 1:8

Ecclesiastes 1:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
• New International Version (NIV)All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.
• New King James Version (NKJV)All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

Context of Ecclesiastes 1:8

6The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us.

Ecclesiastes 1:8 word by word

כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים יְגֵעִ֔ים לֹא־יוּכַ֥ל אִ֖ישׁ לְדַבֵּ֑ר לֹא־תִשְׂבַּ֥ע עַ֙יִן֙ לִרְא֔וֹת וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵ֥א אֹ֖זֶן מִשְּׁמֹֽעַ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• All thingsדָּבָרdâbâr · word: thingH1697
• full of labourיָגֵעַyâgêa‛ · wearyH3023
• manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• cannotיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
• utterדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• the eyeעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• is not satisfiedשָׂבֵעַώâba‛ ώâbêa‛ · to satisfyH7646
• with seeingרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• nor the earאֹ֫זֶן'ôzen · earH241
• filledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• with hearingשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:8

• Ecclesiastes 2:11Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
• Matthew 11:28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
• Romans 8:22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
• Ecclesiastes 4:1Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.
• Ecclesiastes 7:24That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?
• Ecclesiastes 4:8one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, "For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is vanity and an unhappy business.
• Ecclesiastes 5:10He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
• Psalms 63:5My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
• Proverbs 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.
• Proverbs 30:15The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":
• Matthew 5:6"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
• Revelation 7:16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8All things are full of labor - It is; impossible to calculate how much anxiety, pain, labor, and fatigue are necessary in order to carry on the common operations of life. But an endless desire of gain, and an endless curiosity to unfitness a variety of results, cause men to, labor on. The eye sees much, but wishes to, see more. The ear hears of many things; but is curious to have the actual knowledge of them. So desire and curiosity carry men, under the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8All things … utter it - This clause, as here translated, refers to the immensity of labor. Others translate it, “all words are full of labor; they make weary the hearers,” or “are feeble or insufficient” to tell the whole; and are referred to the impossibility of adequately describing labor.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-8Verses 4-8 All things change, and never rest. Man, after all his labour, is no nearer finding rest than the sun, the wind, or the current of the river. His soul will find no rest, if he has it not from God. The senses are soon tired, yet still craving what is untried.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8The sea is never full, and we are never satisfied. This image shows how life can feel unfulfilling.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Maurer translates, "All words are wearied out," that is, are inadequate, as also, "man cannot express" all the things in the world which undergo this ceaseless, changeless cycle of vicissitudes: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing them," &c. But it is plainly a return to the idea (Ec 1:3) as to man's "labor," which is only wearisome and profitless; "no new" good can accrue from it (Ec 1:9); for as the sun, &c., so man's laborious works move in a…Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 1:8

• Covetousness
• Eye
• Man
• Worldliness

In the dictionaries

• Sun
• Vanity
• Labor
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1

• 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
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings