Ecclesiastes 1:3 - Exposition

What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun? Here begins the elucidation of the fruitlessness of man's ceaseless activity. The word rendered "profit" ( yithron ) is found only in this book, where it occurs frequently. It means "that which remains over, advantage," περισσεία , as the LXX . translates it. As the verb and the substantive are cognate in the following words, they are better rendered, in all his labor wherein he laboreth . So Euripides has, τί μόχον μοχθεῖς , and ('And. Fragm.,' 7.4), τοῖς μοχθοῦσι μόχθους εὐτυχῶς συνεκπόνει . Man is Adam , the natural man, unenlightened by the grace of God. Under the sun is an expression peculiar to this book (comp. Ecclesiastes 1:9 , Ecclesiastes 1:14 ; Ecclesiastes 2:11 , Ecclesiastes 2:17 , etc.), but is not intended to contrast this present with a future life; it merely refers to what we call sublunary matters. The phrase is often tact with in the Greek poets. Eurip; 'Alcest.,' 151—

γυνή τ ἀρίστη τῶν ὑφ ἡλίῳ μακρῷ

"By far the best of all beneath the sun."

Homer, 'Iliad,' 4:44—

αἳ γὰρ ὑπ ἠελίῳ τε καὶ οὐρανῷ ἀστερόεντι

ναιετάουσι πόληες ἐπιχθονίων ἀνθρώπων .

"Of all the cities occupied by man

Beneath the sun and starry cope of heaven."

(Cowper.)

Theognis, 'Parcem.,' 167—

ὄλβιος οὐδεὶς

ἀνθρώπων ὁπόσους ἠέλιος καθορᾷ .

"No mortal man

On whom the sun looks down is wholly blest."

In an analogous sense we find in other passages of Scripture the terms " under heaven" ( Ecclesiastes 1:13 ; Ecclesiastes 2:3 ; Exodus 17:14 ; Luke 17:24 ) and "upon the earth" ( Ecclesiastes 8:14 , Ecclesiastes 8:16 ; Genesis 8:17 ). The interrogative form of the verse conveys a strong negative (comp. Ecclesiastes 6:8 ), like the Lord's word in Matthew 16:26 , "What shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" The epilogue ( Ecclesiastes 12:13 ) furnishes a reply to the desponding inquiry.