Ecclesiastes 6:7

Ecclesiastes 6:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
• New International Version (NIV)Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied.
• English Standard Version (ESV)All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.
• New King James Version (NKJV)All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied.

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:7

5It never sees the sun and it never knows anything; it is better off than he. 6Even if the other man lives a thousand years twice and does not enjoy good things--do not all go to one place?” All a man’s labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied. 8For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? What advantage does the poor man have, knowing how to walk before the living? 9What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 6:7 word by word

כָּל־עֲמַ֥ל הָאָדָ֖ם לְפִ֑יהוּ וְגַם־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ לֹ֥א תִמָּלֵֽא׃Read the interlinear

• Allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• a man’sאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• laborעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• is for his mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
• and yetגַּםgam · alsoH1571
• appetiteנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• satisfiedמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:7

• Genesis 3:17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.
• Proverbs 16:26A worker’s appetite works for him, For his hunger urges him on.
• Matthew 6:25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
• John 6:27Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
• 1 Timothy 6:6But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.
• Ecclesiastes 6:3If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he does not even have a proper burial, then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,
• Ecclesiastes 5:10He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.
• Luke 12:19And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7All the labor of man - This is the grand primary object of all human labor; merely to provide for the support of life by procuring things necessary. And life only exists for the sake of the soul; because man puts these things in place of spiritual good, the appetite - the intense desire after the supreme good - is not satisfied. When man learns to provide as distinctly for his soul as he does for his body, then he will begin to be happy, and may soon…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7-9Verses 7-9 Connect these verses with Ecclesiastes 6:2-3: “All labor is undertaken with a view to some profit, but as a rule the people who labor are never satisfied. What advantage then has he who labors if (being rich) he is wise, or if being poor he knows how to conduct himself properly; what advantage have such laborers above a fool? (None, so far as they are without contentment, for) a thing present before the eyes is preferable to a future which…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 A little will serve to sustain us comfortably, and a great deal can do no more. The desires of the soul find nothing in the wealth of the world to give satisfaction. The poor man has comfort as well as the richest, and is under no real disadvantage. We cannot say, Better is the sight of the eyes than the resting of the soul in God; for it is better to live by faith in things to come, than to live by sense, which dwells only upon present…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7People often feel unsatisfied with what they have, regardless of the amount (compare Ecclesiastes 5:10).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. man--rather, "the man," namely, the miser (Ec 6:3-6). For not all men labor for the mouth, that is, for selfish gratification. appetite--Hebrew, "the soul." The insatiability of the desire prevents that which is the only end proposed in toils, namely, self-gratification; "the man" thus gets no "good" out of his wealth (Ec 6:3).Read the comment

Topics related to Ecclesiastes 6:7

• Contentment

In the dictionaries

• Appetite
• Synagogue, the Great

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 6

• 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