Ecclesiastes 2:24

Christian Standard Bible ®

There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

King James Version
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

English Standard Version
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God,

New American Standard Bible
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is from the hand of God.

New Century Version
The best that people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy their work. I saw that even this comes from God,

Amplified Bible
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and assure himself that there is good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God.

World English Bible
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

Geneva Bible (1587)
There is no profit to man: but yt he eate, and drinke, & delight his soule with the profit of his labour: I saw also this, yt it was of the hand of God.

Legacy Standard Bible
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and have his soul see good in his labor. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

Berean Standard Bible
Nothing is better for man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

Contemporary English Version
The best thing we can do is to enjoy eating, drinking, and working. I believe these are God's gifts to us,

Complete Jewish Bible
So there is nothing better for a man to do than eat, drink and and let himself enjoy the good that results from his work. I also realized that this is from God's hand.

Darby Translation
There is nothing good for man, but that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Easy-to-Read Version
There is no one who has tried to enjoy life more than I have. And this is what I learned: The best thing people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy the work they must do. I also saw that this comes from God.

George Lamsa Translation
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of the LORD.

Good News Translation
The best thing we can do is eat and drink and enjoy what we have earned. And yet, I realized that even this comes from God.

Lexham English Bible
There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and find delight in his toil. For I also realized that this is from the hand of God!

Literal Translation
Is it not good that he should eat and drink and make his soul see good in his labor? This I also saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Is it not better then for a ma to eate and drynke, and his soule to be mery in his laboure? Yee I sawe that this also was a gifte of God:

American Standard Version
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

Bible in Basic English
There is nothing better for a man than taking meat and drink, and having delight in his work. This again I saw was from the hand of God.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy pleasure for his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

King James Version (1611)
There is nothing better for a man, then that he should eat and drinke, and that he should make his soule enioy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Is it not better then for a man to eate and drynke, and his soule to be mery in his labour? yea I sawe that this also was a gift of God.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
A man has nothing really good to eat, and to drink, and to shew his soul as good in his trouble. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

English Revised Version
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whether it is not betere to ete and drynke, and to schewe to hise soule goodis of hise trauels? and this thing is of the hond of God.

Update Bible Version
Is it not good that man should eat and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labor? This also I saw, that it is from the hand of God.

Webster's Bible Translation
[There is] nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God.

New English Translation
There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.

New King James Version
Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.

New Living Translation
So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.

New Life Bible
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and find joy in his work. I have seen that this also is from the hand of God.

New Revised Standard
There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
There was nothing more blessed for Man than that he should eat and drink, and see his desireth for blessedness in his toil, - even this, saw, I myself, that, from the hand of God, it was.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God;

Young's Literal Translation
There is nothing good in a man who eateth, and hath drunk, and hath shewn his soul good in his labour. This also I have seen that it [is] from the hand of God.

THE MESSAGE
The best you can do with your life is have a good time and get by the best you can. The way I see it, that's it—divine fate. Whether we feast or fast, it's up to God. God may give wisdom and knowledge and joy to his favorites, but sinners are assigned a life of hard labor, and end up turning their wages over to God's favorites. Nothing but smoke—and spitting into the wind.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. ¹⁸I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun because I must leave it to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile. ²⁰So I began to give myself over to despair concerning all my work that I had labored at under the sun. ²¹When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. ²²For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? ²³For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile. ²⁴There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, ²⁵because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him? ²⁶For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and accumulating in order to give to the one who is pleasing in God’s sight. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

nothing: Ecclesiastes 3:12, Ecclesiastes 3:13, Ecclesiastes 3:22, Ecclesiastes 5:18, Ecclesiastes 8:15, Ecclesiastes 9:7-9, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Ecclesiastes 11:10, Deuteronomy 12:12, Deuteronomy 12:18, Nehemiah 8:10, Acts 14:17, 1 Timothy 6:17

make his soul enjoy good: or, delight his senses

that it: Ecclesiastes 3:13, Ecclesiastes 5:19, Ecclesiastes 6:2, Malachi 2:2, Luke 12:19, Luke 12:20

Reciprocal: Genesis 48:15 - fed me Ruth 3:7 - his heart 1 Kings 4:20 - eating 1 Chronicles 29:22 - eat and drink Ecclesiastes 6:9 - Better Ecclesiastes 9:9 - for Jeremiah 22:15 - eat 1 Corinthians 7:31 - use 1 Corinthians 15:32 - let 1 Timothy 6:8 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 2:1
So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.

Genesis 2:2
On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

Genesis 2:3
God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

Genesis 2:4
These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

Genesis 2:6
But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground.

Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:10
A river went out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers.

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Genesis 2:12
Gold from that land is pure; bdellium and onyx are also there.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

[There is] nothing better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink,.... Not in an immoderate and voluptuous manner, like the epicure and the atheist, that disbelieve a future state and the resurrection of the dead, and give up themselves to all sinful and sensual gratifications; but in a moderate way, enjoying in a cheerful and comfortable manner the good creatures of God, which he has given; being contented with them, thankful for them, and looking upon them as the blessings of divine goodness, and as flowing from the love of God to him; and thus freely using, and yet not abusing them. Some render it, "it is not good for a man to eat" a, c. immoderately and to excess, and to place his happiness in it: or, "there is no good with man" b it is not in the power of man to use the creatures aright. Jarchi renders it by way of interrogation, "is it not good?" which comes to the same sense with ours, and so the Vulgate Latin version;

and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour; not leave off labouring; nor eat and drink what he has not laboured for, or what is the fruit of other men's labour; but what is the effect of his own, and in which he continues; and this is the way to go on in it with cheerfulness, when he enjoys the good, and reaps the benefit and advantage of it; which is certainly preferable to a laying up his substance, and leaving it to he knows not who.

This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God; not only the riches a man possesses, but the enjoyment of them, or a heart to make use of them; see Ecclesiastes 5:18. The Midrash interprets this eating and drinking, of the law and good works: and the Targum explains it, causing the soul to enjoy the good of doing the commandments, and walking in right ways; and observes, that a man that prospers in this world, it is from the hand of the Lord, and is what is decreed to be concerning him.

a אין טוב "non est igitur bonum", Vatablus. b "Non est bonum penes hominem", Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, Gussetius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Solomon having found that wisdom and folly agree in being subject to vanity, now contrasts one with the other Ecclesiastes 2:13. Both are brought under vanity by events Ecclesiastes 2:14 which come on the wise man and the feel alike from without - death and oblivion Ecclesiastes 2:16, uncertainty Ecclesiastes 2:19, disappointment Ecclesiastes 2:21 - all happening by an external law beyond human control. Amidst this vanity, the good (see Ecclesiastes 2:10 note) that accrues to man, is the pleasure felt Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 in receiving God’s gifts, and in working with and for them.

Ecclesiastes 2:12

What can the man do ... - i. e., “What is any man - in this study of wisdom and folly - after one like me, who, from my position, have had such special advantages (see Ecclesiastes 1:16, and compare Ecclesiastes 2:25) for carrying it on? That which man did of old he can but do again: he is not likely to add to the result of my researches, nor even to equal them.” Some hold that the “man” is a reference to Solomon’s successor - not in his inquiries, but in his kingdom, i. e., Jeroboam.

Ecclesiastes 2:14

Event - Or, “hap” Ruth 2:3. The verb from which it is derived seems in this book to refer especially to death. The word does not mean chance (compare Ecclesiastes 9:1-2), independent of the ordering of Divine Providence: the Gentile notion of “mere chance,” or “blind fate,” is never once contemplated by the writer of this book, and it would be inconsistent with his tenets of the unlimited power and activity of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:16

Seeing that ... - Compare Ecclesiastes 1:11. Some render, “as in time past, so in days to come, all will be forgotten;” others, “because in the days to come all will have been long before forgotten.”

Ecclesiastes 2:17

I hated life - Compare this expression, extorted from Solomon by the perception of the vanity of his wisdom and greatness, with Romans 8:22-23. The words of Moses Numbers 11:15, and of Job Job 3:21; Job 6:9, are scarcely less forcible. With some people, this feeling is a powerful motive to conversion Luke 14:26.

Ecclesiastes 2:19

Labour - Compare Ecclesiastes 2:4-8.

Ecclesiastes 2:20

I went about - i. e., I turned from one course of action to another.

Ecclesiastes 2:23

Are sorrows ... grief - Rather, sorrows and grief are his toil. See Ecclesiastes 1:13.

Ecclesiastes 2:24

Nothing better for a man, than that ... - literally, no good in man that etc. The one joy of working or receiving, which, though it be transitory, a man recognizes as a real good, even that is not in the power of man to secure for himself: that good is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

The doctrine of retribution, or, the revealed fact that God is the moral Governor of the world, is here stated for the first time (compare Ecclesiastes 3:15, Ecclesiastes 3:17 ff) in this book.

This also is vanity - Not only the travail of the sinner. Even the best gifts of God, wisdom, knowledge, and joy, so far as they are given in this life, are not permanent, and are not always (see Ecclesiastes 9:11) efficacious for the purpose for which they appear to be given.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 24. There is nothing better for a man — The sense of this passage is well expressed in the following lines: -

"For these disorders wouldst thou find a cure,

Such cure as human frailty would admit?

Drive from thee anxious cares; let reason curb

Thy passions; and with cheerful heart enjoy

That little which the world affords; for here,

Though vain the hopes of perfect happiness,

Yet still the road of life, rugged at best,

Is not without its comforts.---------

Wouldst thou their sweetness taste, look up to heaven,

And praise the all-bounteous Donor, who bestows

The power to use aright."