Ecclesiastes 8:16

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Preacher speaks as an observer analyzing human labor and the pursuit of wisdom under the sun. He describes this moment as he turns his attention to the exhaustive, sleepless work people perform on earth.

The words — The Hebrew phrase נָתַתִּי לִבִּי (nati li) literally means "I gave my heart," indicating a deliberate allocation of one's faculties to pursue understanding. This pairs with לָדַעַת חָכְמָה (la-da'at chokmah), "to know wisdom," framing the pursuit as an active, sustained endeavor.

The thread — This pursuit echoes Ecclesiastes 1:13, where the author sets his mind to explore all that is done under heaven, and contrasts with Ecclesiastes 2:23, which notes that such toil leaves the mind restless even at night. The theme of sleepless labor also appears in Psalm 127:2, which warns that rising early and staying up late is vain apart from God's provision.

Why it lands — The text records the speaker's observation that human effort to master wisdom and labor results in relentless, sleepless striving. It demands recognition that exhaustive intellectual and physical toil cannot secure lasting understanding or peace.

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

When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)

Cross-references

Ecclesiastes 2:23 Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
Psalms 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
Ecclesiastes 1:13 And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a miserable task God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
Genesis 31:40 As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
Ecclesiastes 4:8 There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
Ecclesiastes 7:25 I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
Ecclesiastes 8:7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
Ecclesiastes 8:9 All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.