Ecclesiastes 3:10

No One Understands God’s Mysterious Plan

10 I have seen the busyness God gives to {humans} to preoccupy them.

Ecclesiastes 3:10 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 3:10

I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of
men
The pains and trouble they are at to get a little wisdom and knowledge, ( Ecclesiastes 1:13 ) ; and so to obtain riches and honour, peace and plenty, which sometimes they do obtain, and sometimes not; and when they do, do not keep them long, for there is a time for everything. This the wise man had observed, in a variety of instances; and he considered the end of God in it, which was for men to be exercised in it,
or "by it"; or "to afflict" or "humble [them] by it" ^F12; to let them see that all their toil and labour signified little; all depended on a divine blessing, and no happiness was to be had in the creatures; all was vanity and vexation of spirit; (See Gill on Ecclesiastes 1:13).

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 (wb twnel) "ad affligendum se in ea", Montanus; "ut eos adfligat in ea, sc. per eam", Rambachius; "ut ea redderet humiles", Tigurine version.

Ecclesiastes 3:10 In-Context

8 a time to love and a time to hate; a time [for] war and a time [for] peace.

9 What does the worker gain in his toil?

10 I have seen the busyness God gives to {humans} to preoccupy them.

11 He has made everything suitable in its time. He also has put {the past} in their hearts, yet no one can grasp what God does from the beginning to the end.

12 So I realized that there is {nothing better} for them than to {rejoice and enjoy themselves} during their lives.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "the sons of the man"
• [b] Or "to be busy"