Ecclesiastes 2:22

22 quid enim proderit homini de universo labore suo et adflictione spiritus qua sub sole cruciatus est

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 unde cessavi renuntiavitque cor meum ultra laborare sub sole
21 nam cum alius laboret in sapientia et doctrina et sollicitudine homini otioso quaesita dimittit et hoc ergo vanitas et magnum malum
22 quid enim proderit homini de universo labore suo et adflictione spiritus qua sub sole cruciatus est
23 cuncti dies eius doloribus et aerumnis pleni sunt nec per noctem mente requiescit et haec non vanitas est
24 nonne melius est comedere et bibere et ostendere animae suae bona de laboribus suis et hoc de manu Dei est
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.