What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:22?

For what does a man get

– Solomon poses a searching question, inviting us to pause and evaluate the outcome of our efforts.

– Cross references point to the same reflective tone:

• Psalm 39:5, “Indeed, every man at his best exists as but a breath.”

• Matthew 16:26, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”

– The implied answer is “nothing lasting,” setting the stage for the verse’s sober conclusion.

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for all his toil and striving

– The words highlight restless labor—work driven by ambition, worry, or the need to prove oneself.

– Scripture repeatedly warns that such toil, apart from God, cannot satisfy:

• Genesis 3:17-19 traces sweaty labor back to the Fall.

• Psalm 127:2 notes, “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat.”

– The phrase also acknowledges legitimate hard work (Proverbs 14:23) while exposing its limits when pursued as life’s chief end.

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with which he labors

– This clause personalizes the struggle: the man is not abstract; he feels the strain in mind and body.

– Ecclesiastes has already recounted personal experiments in pleasure, projects, and possessions (2:1-11), showing how even spectacular accomplishments leave the heart empty.

– Cross references emphasize the same theme:

• Job 7:1-2 pictures life as “hard service.”

• Colossians 3:23 reminds believers to shift focus: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

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under the sun

– Key phrase in Ecclesiastes, signaling an earth-bound viewpoint that leaves eternity out.

– Apart from God’s bigger story, all achievements are trapped in a closed system of decay and death (Romans 8:20-21).

– By contrast, placing labor “before the Lord” transforms it (1 Corinthians 15:58: “your labor in the Lord is not in vain”).

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summary

Ecclesiastes 2:22 confronts every worker with the futility of self-centered effort. When life is measured only “under the sun,” the net gain of toil is zero—fleeting satisfaction at best. Scripture urges us to re-orient our labor toward God’s eternal purposes, trusting that work done in Him carries significance both now and forever.