Ecclesiastes 3:9 (DRB)

Passage

What hath man more of his labour?

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.

Ecclesiastes 3:8 A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:9 What hath man more of his labour?

Ecclesiastes 3:10 I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men to be exercised in it.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made all things good in their time, and hath delivered the world to their consideration, so that man cannot find out the work which God hath made from the beginning to the end.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hath" and "labour". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hath" and "labour", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "A time of love and a time..." into verse 10's "I have seen the trouble which God...", so "hath" and "labour" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hath" and "labour" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.