Ecclesiastes 4:8
BSB · Public Domain (CC0)“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.”
A short, plain-language explanation of Ecclesiastes 4:8 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.
“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.”
Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)“There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.”
King James Version · Public Domain“There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, saith he, do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.”
American Standard Version · Public Domain“There is one, and there is not a second; even son or brother he hath not, and there is no end to all his labour! His eye also is not satisfied with riches, and <FI>he saith not<Fi> , `For whom am I labouring and bereaving my soul of good?' This also is vanity, it is a sad travail.”
Young's Literal Translation · Public DomainOther passages that echo Ecclesiastes 4:8 — 19 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Genesis 2:18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
- Genesis 15:2But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
- Psalms 39:6Surely every man goes about like a phantom; surely he bustles in vain; he heaps up riches not knowing who will haul them away.
- Psalms 39:7And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
- Proverbs 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
- Ecclesiastes 1:8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
- Ecclesiastes 1:13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!
- Ecclesiastes 2:23Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.
- Ecclesiastes 4:9Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.
- Ecclesiastes 5:9The produce of the earth is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
- Ecclesiastes 5:10He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
- Isaiah 5:8Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field until no place is left and you live alone in the land.
- Isaiah 44:19And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
- Isaiah 55:2Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.
- Isaiah 56:3Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
- Habakkuk 2:5and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.
- Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- 1 John 2:16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).