Tree of Life Version
Ecclesiastes 6:7
7All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.
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
5though it has never seen or experienced the sun, it has more rest than the other. 6Even if the other man were to live a thousand years twice and never enjoy good things—do not all go to the same place? All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. 8So what advantage has the wise over the fool? What does the pauper gain by knowing how to walk before the living? 9Better is what the eyes see than the pursuit of the soul’s desires. This too is fleeting and striving after wind.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 6Ecclesiastes 6:7 word by word
כָּל־עֲמַ֥ל הָאָדָ֖ם לְפִ֑יהוּ וְגַם־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ לֹ֥א תִמָּלֵֽא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 6:7
- Genesis 3:17Then to the man He said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate of the tree which I commanded you, saying, ‘You must not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground because of you— with pain will you eat of it all the days of your life.
- Proverbs 16:26A laborer’s appetite works on his behalf, for his hunger drives him on.
- Matthew 6:25“So I say to you, do not worry about your life—what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?
- John 6:27Don’t work for food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him, God the Father has put the seal of approval.”
- 1 Timothy 6:6Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
- Ecclesiastes 6:3Even if a man should father a hundred children and live many years, however many the days of his years may be, yet his soul is never satisfied with his prosperity and he does not have a proper burial, then I say that it is better for the stillborn than him.
- Ecclesiastes 5:10When goods increase, so do those who consume them. So what advantage are they to the owner except he sees it with his eyes?
- Luke 12:19And I’ll say to myself, ’O my soul, you have plenty of goods saved up for many years! So take it 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
In the dictionaries
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
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