Ecclesiastes 3:9 (KJV)

Passage

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

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 to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

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

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "A time to love and a time..." into verse 10's "I have seen the travail which God...", so "profit" and "hath" 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 "profit" and "hath" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.