Bible Strands
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?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The speaker reflects on human existence immediately after contrasting the fate of human and animal spirits in 3:21. He addresses readers weighing the uncertainty of death against the limits of human foresight.
The words — יִשְׂמַח (yis.Mach) means he will be happy, and מַעֲשָׂיו (ma.'a.Sa/v) translates as his work. These terms anchor the verse’s claim that present labor is the primary human good.
The thread — The text traces this theme through Ecclesiastes 2:24, which attributes present enjoyment to God’s hand, and Ecclesiastes 3:11, which notes humanity’s inability to fathom divine timing. It reinforces this limitation in Ecclesiastes 6:12 by highlighting human ignorance of what follows.
Why it lands — The text states that enjoyment of labor is the only certain human good because the future remains unknowable. It asks readers to accept their present portion without demanding certainty about what comes after death.
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
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
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 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
- Ecclesiastes 6:12 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
- Ecclesiastes 8:7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
- Ecclesiastes 10:14 Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
- Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 12:7 There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.
- 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,