New International Version
Ecclesiastes 1:3
3What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
Ecclesiastes 1:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
- English Standard Version (ESV)What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
- New King James Version (NKJV)What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
- New Living Translation (NLT)What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
Context of Ecclesiastes 1:3
1The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 2“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? 4Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. 5The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 1Ecclesiastes 1:3 word by word
מַה־יִּתְר֖וֹן לָֽאָדָ֑ם בְּכָל־עֲמָל֔וֹ שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 1:3
- Ecclesiastes 2:22What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?
- Ecclesiastes 3:9What do workers gain from their toil?
- Ecclesiastes 5:16This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind?
- Proverbs 23:4Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.
- Isaiah 55:2Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
- Habakkuk 2:13Has not the Lord Almighty determined that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire, that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?
- Matthew 16:26What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
- Mark 8:36What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
- John 6:27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
- Ecclesiastes 2:11Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 4:3But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 5:18This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.
- Ecclesiastes 6:12For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?
- Ecclesiastes 7:11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 8:15So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
- Ecclesiastes 9:3This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 1:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3What profit hath a man - What is the sum of the real good he has gained by all his toils in life? They, in themselves, have neither made him contented nor happy.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3What profit - The question often repeated is the great practical inquiry of the book; it receives its final answer in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. When this question was asked, the Lord had not yet spoken Matthew 11:28. The word “profit” (or pre-eminence) is opposed to “vanity.” Hath a man - Rather, hath man.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The Hebrew phrase under the sun appears twenty-nine times in Ecclesiastes. The New Living Translation sometimes translates it as "here on earth" (Proverbs 2:18) or "in this world" (Proverbs 2:20). It suggests a view of life focused on earthly matters rather than God's perspective.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. What profit ... labour--that is, "What profit" as to the chief good (Mt 16:26). Labor is profitable in its proper place (Ge 2:15; 3:19; Pr 14:23). under the sun--that is, in this life, as opposed to the future world. The phrase often recurs, but only in Ecclesiastes.Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 1:3
In the dictionaries
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
New International Version — © NIV® 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica
Commentaries