Ecclesiastes 2:23
21 For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.
22 For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.
25 For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I?
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
- KJV
- For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.
- WEB
- For all his days are sorrows, and his travail is grief; yes, even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.
- ASV
- For all his days are [but] sorrows, and his travail is grief; yea, even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
- DARBY
- For all his days are sorrows, and his travail vexation: even in the night his heart taketh no rest. This also is vanity.
- BLB
- For all his days are pains, and anger [is] his task; even in the night his heart will not find rest. This also is vapor.
- ÅB
- Alle hans dager er jo fulle av smerte, og all hans umak er bare gremmelse; selv om natten har hans hjerte ikke ro; også dette er tomhet.
- OTB
- Alle deres dager bringer deres arbeid sorg og smerte; selv om natten finner deres sinn ikke hvile. Også dette er forgjeves.
- B1930
- Alle hans dager er jo fulle av smerte, og all hans umak er bare gremmelse; selv om natten har hans hjerte ikke ro; også dette er tomhet.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Job 14:1
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Read in contextJob 5:7
Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Read in contextJob 7:13–14
When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;
Read in contextPsalms 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
Read in contextPsalms 6:6–7
I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
Read in contextDaniel 6:18
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
Read in contextGenesis 47:9
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Read in contextActs 14:22
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Read in context