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Ecclesiastes 1

Eccl. 1:3 KJV (With Strong’s)

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What profit
yithrown (Hebrew #3504)
preeminence, gain
KJV usage: better, excellency(-leth), profit(-able).
Pronounce: yith-rone'
Origin: from 3498
hath a man
'adam (Hebrew #120)
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
KJV usage: X another, + hypocrite, + common sort, X low, man (mean, of low degree), person.
Pronounce: aw-dawm'
Origin: from 119
of all his labor
`amal (Hebrew #5999)
toil, i.e. wearing effort; hence, worry, wheth. of body or mind
KJV usage: grievance(-vousness), iniquity, labour, mischief, miserable(-sery), pain(-ful), perverseness, sorrow, toil, travail, trouble, wearisome, wickedness.
Pronounce: aw-mawl'
Origin: from 5998
which he taketh
`amal (Hebrew #5998)
to toil, i.e. work severely and with irksomeness
KJV usage: (take) labour (in).
Pronounce: aw-mal'
Origin: a primitive root
under the sun
shemesh (Hebrew #8121)
the sun; by implication, the east; figuratively, a ray, i.e. (arch.) a notched battlement
KJV usage: + east side(-ward), sun ((rising)), + west(-ward), window. See also 1053.
Pronounce: sheh'-mesh
Origin: from an unused root meaning to be brilliant
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Sun

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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profit.
Eccl. 2:22• 22For what will man have of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun? (Eccl. 2:22)
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Eccl. 3:9• 9What profit hath he that worketh from that wherein he laboureth? (Eccl. 3:9)
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Eccl. 5:16• 16And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came so doth he go away, and what profit hath he, in having laboured for the wind? (Eccl. 5:16)
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Prov. 23:4‑5• 4Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:
 5wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens. (Prov. 23:4‑5)
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Isa. 55:2• 2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (Isa. 55:2)
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Hab. 2:13,18• 13Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
 18What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it? the molten image, and the teacher of falsehood, that the maker of his work dependeth thereon, to make dumb idols? (Hab. 2:13,18)
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Matt. 16:26• 26For what does a man profit, if he should gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matt. 16:26)
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Mark 8:36‑37• 36For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?
 37for what should a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37)
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John 6:27• 27Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto life eternal, which the Son of man shall give to you; for him has the Father sealed, even God. (John 6:27)
under.
Eccl. 2:11,19• 11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that it had cost me to do them; and behold, all was vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
 19And who knoweth whether he will be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour at which I have laboured, and wherein I have been wise under the sun. This also is vanity. (Eccl. 2:11,19)
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Eccl. 4:3,7• 3and more fortunate than both is he who hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
 7And I returned and saw vanity under the sun. (Eccl. 4:3,7)
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Eccl. 5:18• 18Behold what I have seen good and comely: it is to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labour wherewith man laboureth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for that is his portion. (Eccl. 5:18)
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Eccl. 6:12• 12For who knoweth what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell man what shall be after him under the sun? (Eccl. 6:12)
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Eccl. 7:11• 11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, and profitable to them that see the sun. (Eccl. 7:11)
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Eccl. 8:15‑17• 15And I commended mirth, because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry; for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God hath given him under the sun.
 16When I applied my 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),
 17then I saw that all is the work of God, and that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however man may labour to seek it out, yet doth he not find it; and even, if a wiseman think to know it, he shall not be able to find it out. (Eccl. 8:15‑17)
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Eccl. 9:3,6,13• 3This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing befalleth all: yea, also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, they have to go to the dead.
 6Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy is already perished; neither have they any more for ever a portion in all that is done under the sun.
 13This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it was great unto me. (Eccl. 9:3,6,13)
• And this is just the purpose of the whole book, to furnish such striking contrasts whereby the “new” is set off in its glories against the dark background of the “old,” ―rest against labor, hope against despair, song against groan; and so the third verse puts this very explicitly― “What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?” (“Ecclesiastes 1: Old Groans and New Songs” by F.C. Jennings)
• The word “profit,” then, is, in the Hebrew, yithrohn, and is found in this exact form only in this book, where it is translated “profit,” as here, or “excellency,” as in Ecclesiastes 2:13. The Septuagint translates it into a Greek one, meaning “advantage,” or perhaps more literally, “that which remains over and above.” In Eph. 3:20 it is rendered “exceeding abundantly above.” Hence, we gather that our word intends to convey to us the question, “After life is over, after man has given his labor, his time, his powers, and his talents, what has he received in exchange that shall satisfy him for all that he has lost? (“Ecclesiastes 1: Old Groans and New Songs” by F.C. Jennings)

J. N. Darby Translation

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What profit hath man of all his labour wherewith he laboureth under the sun?