3 What profit hath man of all his labour wherewith he laboureth under the sun?
And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind?
What profit hath he that worketh from that wherein he laboureth?
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that it had cost me to do [them]; and behold, all was vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
Work not [for] the food which perishes, but [for] the food which abides unto life eternal, which the Son of man shall give to you; for him has the Father sealed, [even] God.
Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence: wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.
This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it was great unto me.
Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing befalleth all: yea, also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, [they have to go] to the dead.
And I commended mirth, because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God hath given him under the sun. When I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes), then I saw that all [is] the work of God, [and] that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however man may labour to seek [it] out, yet doth he not find [it]; and even, if a wise [man] think to know [it], he shall not be able to find [it] out.
For who knoweth what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell man what shall be after him under the sun?
Behold what I have seen good and comely: [it is] to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour wherewith [man] laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for that is his portion.
And who knoweth whether he will be a wise [man] or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour at which I have laboured, and wherein I have been wise under the sun. This also is vanity.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 1 Matthew Henry Commentary
An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of
The Book of Ecclesiastes
Chapter 1
In this chapter we have,
And, if this is vanity and vexation, all other things in this world, being much inferior to it in dignity and worth, must needs be so too. A great scholar cannot be happy unless he be a true saint.
Ecc 1:1-3
Here is,
Ecc 1:4-8
To prove the vanity of all things under the sun, and their insufficiency to make us happy, Solomon here shows,
Ecc 1:9-11
Two things we are apt to take a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction in, and value ourselves upon, with reference to our business and enjoyments in the world, as if they helped to save them from vanity. Solomon shows us our mistake in both.
Ecc 1:12-18
Solomon, having asserted in general that all is vanity, and having given some general proofs of it, now takes the most effectual method to evince the truth of it,