Ecclesiastes 3:9

9 What do people really get for all their hard work?

Ecclesiastes 3:9 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 3:9

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he
laboureth?
] That is, he has none. This is an inference drawn from the above premises, and confirms what has been before observed, ( Ecclesiastes 1:3 ) ( 2:11 ) ; Man has no profit of his labour, since his time is so short to enjoy it, and he leaves it to another, he knows not who; and, while he lives, is attended with continual vicissitudes and changes; sometimes it is a time for one thing, and sometimes for its contrary, so that there is nothing certain, and to be depended on; and a man can promise himself nothing in this world pleasant or profitable to him, and much less that will be of any advantage to him hereafter. The Targum adds,

``to make treasures and gather mammon, unless he is helped by Providence above;''
though it is man's duty to labour, yet all his toil and labour will be fruitless without a divine blessing; there is a time and season for everything in providence, and there is no striving against that.

Ecclesiastes 3:9 In-Context

7 A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do people really get for all their hard work?
10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
11 Yet 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.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.