Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 2:10
Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Preacher addresses himself and his readers at the moment he surveys the completed results of his extensive royal and intellectual labors. He speaks from a position of achieved worldly success, immediately before he evaluates its ultimate value.
The words — The text highlights אָצַ֖לְתִּי ('a.Tzal.ti), meaning "I withheld," and מָנַ֨עְתִּי (ma.Na'.ti), meaning "I restrained," to describe his deliberate refusal to deny himself anything his eyes asked. These verbs emphasize active self-denial reversed into active self-gratification.
The thread — This theme of finding satisfaction in earthly labor appears in Ecclesiastes 3:22, 5:18, and 9:9, where enjoying one's work is presented as a good portion under the sun. These passages parallel the Preacher's earlier observation that pleasure in labor is a direct reward for his toil.
Why it lands — The verse demands that readers confront the reality that worldlyI have to answer now.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 3:22 I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
- Ecclesiastes 5:18 Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
- Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
- Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- Psalms 128:2 For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.
- Ecclesiastes 2:22 For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?
- 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
- Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
- Judges 14:2 So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”