Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 2:24
Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Teacher addresses a general audience after detailing the futility of human labor and the anxiety it produces. He speaks from a position of observed experience, not direct prophecy.
The words — אֵֽין־ ('ein-) translates as "there not," establishing absolute negation, while נַפְשׁוֹ (nafsho) means "his self," indicating the whole person receives the divine provision.
The thread — The motif of enjoying one’s labor as a gift recurs in Ecclesiastes 3:22 and Ecclesiastes 8:15, while 1 Timothy 6:17 redirects that same posture of reliance away from wealth and toward God.
Why it lands — The text declares that eating, drinking, and finding satisfaction in work are direct provisions from God, not merely human achievements. The reader must acknowledge daily sustenance and labor as gifts rather than self-generated rewards.
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
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.
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 8:15 So I commended the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be merry. For this joy will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,
- 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 9:7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
- 1 Corinthians 15:32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
- Deuteronomy 12:18 Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do,
- Deuteronomy 12:12 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
- Ecclesiastes 6:2 God gives a man riches, wealth, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; but God does not allow him to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger will enjoy them. This is futile and a grievous affliction.