Ecclesiastes 2:23

23 All his days [are] painful, his labor [brings] grief, and his heart cannot rest at night. This also [is] vanity!

Ecclesiastes 2:23 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:23

For all his days [are] sorrows, and his travail grief
All his days are full of sorrows, of a variety of them; and all his affairs and transactions of life are attended with grief and trouble; not only the days of old age are evil ones, in which he can take no pleasure; or those times which exceed the common age of man, when he is got to fourscore years or more, and when his strength is labour and sorrow; but even all his days, be they fewer or more, from his youth upward, are all evil and full of trouble, ( Genesis 47:9 ) ( Job 14:1 ) ; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night;
which is appointed for rest and ease; and when laid down on his bed for it, as the word signifies; yet, either through an eager desire of getting wealth, or through anxious and distressing cares for the keeping it when gotten, he cannot sleep quietly and comfortably, his carking cares and anxious thoughts keep him waking; or, if he sleeps, his mind is distressed with dreams and frightful apprehensions of things, so that his sleep is not sweet and refreshing to him. This is also vanity;
or one of the vanities which belong to human life.

Ecclesiastes 2:23 In-Context

21 For although a person may toil with great wisdom and skill, he must leave his reward to someone who has not toiled for it. This also [is] vanity and a great calamity.
22 For what does a person receive for all his toil and in the longing of his heart with which he toils under the sun?
23 All his days [are] painful, his labor [brings] grief, and his heart cannot rest at night. This also [is] vanity!
24 There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!
25 For who can eat [and drink], and who can enjoy [life] apart from him?
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.