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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 hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? (Eccl. 2:22)
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Eccl. 3:9• 9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? (Eccl. 3:9)
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Eccl. 5:16• 16And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind? (Eccl. 5:16)
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Prov. 23:4‑5• 4Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
 5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. (Prov. 23:4‑5)
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Isa. 55:2• 2Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor 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 the Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
 18What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? (Hab. 2:13,18)
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Matt. 16:26• 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own 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 shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
 37Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36‑37)
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John 6:27• 27Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. (John 6:27)
under.
Eccl. 2:11,19• 11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
 19And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. (Eccl. 2:11,19)
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Eccl. 4:3,7• 3Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
 7Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun. (Eccl. 4:3,7)
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Eccl. 5:18• 18Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion. (Eccl. 5:18)
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Eccl. 6:12• 12For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? (Eccl. 6:12)
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Eccl. 7:11• 11Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun. (Eccl. 7:11)
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Eccl. 8:15‑17• 15Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labor the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
 16When 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:)
 17Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. (Eccl. 8:15‑17)
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Eccl. 9:3,6,13• 3This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
 6Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
 13This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed 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?