Ecclesiastes 3:10

Ecclesiastes 3:10 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
• New International Version (NIV)I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

Context of Ecclesiastes 3:10

8A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. 9What do people really get for all their hard work? I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.

Ecclesiastes 3:10 word by word

רָאִ֣יתִי אֶת־הָֽעִנְיָ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן אֱלֹהִ֛ים לִבְנֵ֥י הָאָדָ֖ם לַעֲנ֥וֹת בּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I have seenרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• the travailעִנְיָן‛inyân · taskH6045
• which Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• hath givenנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• to the sonsבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
• of menאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• to be exercisedעָנָה‛ânâh · be occupiedH6031

Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 3:10

• Ecclesiastes 1:3What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?
• Ecclesiastes 2:11But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
• Ecclesiastes 5:16And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind.
• Proverbs 14:23Work brings profit, but mere talk leads to poverty!
• Matthew 16:26And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3:10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10I have seen the travail - Man is a sinner; and, because he is such, he suffers.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 10the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men: God made our work harder after humans rebelled against Him (Genesis 3:17–19). This burden is not too heavy for us to enjoy our work and its rewards (Ecclesiastes 3:11213).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. (See on Ec 1:13).Read the comment

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Dance
• Judge
• Exercise
• 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