Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 3:13
and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Preacher addresses humanity regarding the limits of human striving under the sun. He speaks at a pivot in his argument, moving from the futility of endless toil to the acknowledgment of divinely granted daily sustenance.
The words — The Hebrew conjunction וְגַם (ve./Gam) translates to "and also," linking this verse to the preceding command to rejoice. The prepositional phrase בְּכָל־ (be./khol) means "in all," emphasizing that the call to eat, drink, and find good applies comprehensively to every person's labor.
The thread — This pattern appears in Ecclesiastes 2:24 and Ecclesiastes 9:7, which similarly frame eating, drinking, and enjoying one's work as a divine gift. Isaiah 65:21 extends the motif by depicting a future reality where people securely build, plant, and consume the fruit of their hands.
Why it lands — The text declares that finding satisfaction in daily labor is a gift from God, not a human achievement. It requires the reader to accept mundane sustenance and work as ordained provision rather than striving for self-justification through endless effort.
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 also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
Cross-references
- 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.
- Ecclesiastes 9:7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
- Isaiah 65:21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- Psalms 128:2 For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 28:30 You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.
- Deuteronomy 28:47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart in all your abundance,
- Judges 6:3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
- 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.