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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough.

Context of Ecclesiastes 6:7

5Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied. 8What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? 9Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 6:7 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• All the labourעָמָל‛âmâl · troubleH5999
• of manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• for his mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
• and yet the appetiteנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: appetiteH5315
• is not filledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:7

• Genesis 3:17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
• Proverbs 16:26The appetite of laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on.
• Matthew 6:25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
• 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.”
• 1 Timothy 6:6But godliness with contentment is great gain.
• Ecclesiastes 6:3A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
• Ecclesiastes 5:10Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
• Luke 12:19And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; 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