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Read the Bible

New King James Version

Ecclesiastes 6:7

All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Contentment;   Thompson Chain Reference - Appetites;   Emptiness-Fulness;   Power;   Self-Indulgence;   Self-Indulgence-Self-Denial;   Unsatisfied;  

Dictionaries:

- Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Appetite;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for September 7;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
All of a person’s labor is for his stomach,yet the appetite is never satisfied.
Hebrew Names Version
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
King James Version
All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
English Standard Version
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.
New American Standard Bible
All a person's labor is for his mouth, and yet his appetite is not satisfied.
New Century Version
People work just to feed themselves, but they never seem to get enough to eat.
Amplified Bible
All the labor of man is for his mouth [for self-preservation and enjoyment], and yet the desire [of his soul] is not satisfied.
World English Bible
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Geneva Bible (1587)
All the labour of man is for his mouth: yet the soule is not filled.
Legacy Standard Bible
All a man's labor is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not fulfilled.
Berean Standard Bible
All a man's labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
Contemporary English Version
We struggle just to have enough to eat, but we are never satisfied.
Complete Jewish Bible
The purpose of all toil is to fill the mouth, yet the appetite is never satisfied.
Darby Translation
All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Easy-to-Read Version
People work and work to feed themselves, but they are never satisfied.
George Lamsa Translation
All the labor of a man is for his mouth, and yet his appetite is not filled.
Good News Translation
We do all our work just to get something to eat, but we never have enough.
Lexham English Bible
All of a man's toil is for his mouth— yet his appetite is never satisfied.
Literal Translation
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not filled.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
All the laboure that a man taketh, is for himself, and yet his desyre is neuer fylled after his mynde.
American Standard Version
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Bible in Basic English
All the work of man is for his mouth, and still he has a desire for food.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
King James Version (1611)
All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
All the labour that a man taketh, is for him selfe, and yet his desire is neuer fylled after his mynde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
All the labour of a man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite shall not be satisfied.
English Revised Version
All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Al the trauel of a man is in his mouth, but the soule of hym schal not be fillid with goodis.
Update Bible Version
All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Webster's Bible Translation
All the labor of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
New English Translation
All of man's labor is for nothing more than to fill his stomach— yet his appetite is never satisfied!
New Living Translation
All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough.
New Life Bible
All a man's work is for his mouth, and yet his hunger is not filled.
New Revised Standard
All human toil is for the mouth, yet the appetite is not satisfied.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
All the toil of man, is for his mouth, - though, even the desire, is not satisfied!
Douay-Rheims Bible
All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be filled.
Revised Standard Version
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.
Young's Literal Translation
All the labour of man [is] for his mouth, and yet the soul is not filled.
THE MESSAGE
We work to feed our appetites; Meanwhile our souls go hungry.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
All a man's labor is for his mouth and yet the appetite is not satisfied.

Contextual Overview

7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied. 8 For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 10 Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the labour: Genesis 3:17-19, Proverbs 16:26, Matthew 6:25, John 6:27, 1 Timothy 6:6-8

appetite: Heb. soul, Ecclesiastes 6:3, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Luke 12:19

Reciprocal: Genesis 48:15 - fed me Psalms 127:2 - the bread Proverbs 27:20 - so Ecclesiastes 2:22 - hath man

Cross-References

Genesis 6:1
Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,
Genesis 6:2
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
Genesis 6:3
And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive [fn] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."
Genesis 6:4
There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:20
Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
Genesis 6:22
Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
Psalms 37:20
But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the LORD, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.
Proverbs 10:27
The fear of the LORD prolongs days, But the years of the wicked will be shortened.
Proverbs 16:4
The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.
Hosea 4:3
Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away With the beasts of the field And the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

All the labour of man [is] for his mouth,.... For the food of his mouth, as the Targum; for the sustenance of his body, for food and clothing, part being put for the whole: all that a man labours for is to get this; and if he does not enjoy it, his labour is in vain; meats are for the belly, which are taken in by the mouth, and for these a man labours; and if he does not eat them, when he has got them, he labours to no purpose;

and yet the appetite is not filled; even the bodily or sensual appetite; no, not even by those who eat the fruit of their labour; for though their hunger is allayed for the present, and the appetite is satisfied for a while, yet it returns again, and requires more food, and so continually: or, "the soul is not filled", or "satisfied" c; it is the body only that is filled or satisfied with such things, at best; the mind of man grasps after greater things, and can find no contentment or satisfaction in earthly or sensual enjoyments. This seems to be a new argument, proving the vanity of riches, from the narrow use of them; which only reaches to the body, not to the soul.

c הנפש לא תמלא "anima non implebitur", Pagninus, Montanus; "anima non expletur", Mercerus, Gejerus; "non impletur", Cocceius, so Broughton; "non satiatur", Drusius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Connect these verses with Ecclesiastes 6:2-3 : “All labor is undertaken with a view to some profit, but as a rule the people who labor are never satisfied. What advantage then has he who labors if (being rich) he is wise, or if being poor he knows how to conduct himself properly; what advantage have such laborers above a fool? (None, so far as they are without contentment, for) a thing present before the eyes is preferable to a future which exists only in the desire.”

Ecclesiastes 6:8

What - literally, what profit (as in Ecclesiastes 1:3).

Knoweth ... living - i. e., “Knows how to conduct himself rightly among his contemporaries.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 6:7. All the labour of man — This is the grand primary object of all human labour; merely to provide for the support of life by procuring things necessary. And life only exists for the sake of the soul; because man puts these things in place of spiritual good, the appetite - the intense desire after the supreme good - is not satisfied. When man learns to provide as distinctly for his soul as he does for his body, then he will begin to be happy, and may soon attain his end.


 
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