Ecclesiastes 3:9
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What does the worker gain from his toil?
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
Since, then, everything has its time depending not on human influence, but on the determination and providence of God, the question arises: "What gain hath he that worketh in that wherewith he wearieth himself?" It is the complaint of Ecc 1:3 which is here repeated. From all the labour there comes forth nothing which carries in it the security of its continuance; but in all he does man is conditioned by the change of times and circumstances and relations over which he has no control. And the converse of this his weakness is short-sightedness.
Open source ↗Solomon having shown the vanity of studies, pleasures, and business, and made it to appear that happiness is not to be found in the schools of the learned, nor in the gardens of Epicurus, nor upon the exchange, he proceeds, in this chapter, further to prove his doctrine, and the inference he had drawn from it, That therefore we should cheerfully content ourselves with, and make use of, what God has given us, by showing, I. The mutability of all human affairs (Ecc 3:1-10). II. The immutability of the divine counsels concerning them and the unsearchableness of those counsels (Ecc 3:11-15). III. The vanity of worldly honour and power, which are abused for the support of oppression and persecution if men be not governed by the fear of God in the use of them (Ecc 3:16). For a check to proud oppressors, and to show them their vanity, he reminds them, 1. That they will be called to account for it in the other world (Ecc 3:17). 2. That their condition, in reference to this world (for of that he speaks), is no better than that of the beasts (Ecc 3:18-21). And therefore he concludes that it is our wisdom to make use of what power we have for our own comfort, and not to oppress others with it.
Open source ↗3:9-14 Even though every activity has an appropriate occasion (3:1-8), only God can truly know what that occasion is (3:9-11). Mortals must be content with uncertainty and trust the sovereign God who gives enjoyment to those who work wisely and righteously. 3:9 get for . . . hard work? See 3:12-13.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?
This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?