Ecclesiastes 2:22

22 For what profit shall a man have of all his labour, and vexation of spirit, with which he hath been tormented under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 2:22 Meaning and Commentary

Ecclesiastes 2:22

For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of
his heart?
&c.] What profit has he by it, when there is so much vexation in it, both in getting it, and in the thought of leaving it to others? What advantage is it to him, when it is all acquired for and possessed by another; and especially of what use is it to him after his death? Even of all wherein he hath laboured under the sun?
the Targum adds, "in this world"; though he has been labouring all his days, yet there is not one thing he has got by his labour that is of any real advantage to him, or can yield him any solid comfort and satisfaction, or bring him true happiness, or lead him to it.

Ecclesiastes 2:22 In-Context

20 Wherefore I left off and my heart renounced labouring anymore under the sun.
21 For when a man laboureth in wisdom, and knowledge, and carefulness, he leaveth what he hath gotten to an idle man: so this also is vanity, and a great evil.
22 For what profit shall a man have of all his labour, and vexation of spirit, with which he hath been tormented under the sun?
23 All his days are full of sorrows and miseries, even in the night he doth not rest in mind: and is not this vanity?
24 Is it not better to eat and drink, and to shew his soul good things of his labours? and this is from the hand of God.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.