Eclesiastes 1

Eclesiastes 1

Meyer - Ecclesiastes 1:7 All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. (R.V.) The complaint of this chapter is the tiresome monotony of existence. Always the same tedious routine! The jaded soul of the worldling, who has put God out of his life, sees nothing fresh or interesting anywhere, and yawns with weariness. King Solomon had everything that the world could give to make his years rich, glad, and useful. But his heart turned away from God to things, from the only true God to idols, from the spiritual to the sensual, from heaven to earth; and he became a jaded voluptuary, who records his experiences on these pages, to warn coming generations. His words remind us of Byron’s lament at his life being in the sere and yellow leaf; of the closing sentence of “Vanity Fair”; and of entries in the journals of the world’s greatest wits and courtiers. All the rivers of earthly joy may be flowing into your heart, but they will never fill it. They may recede, or dry up, or ebb; but if not, still they will never satisfy. The pleasures of this world after a while become monotonous, and pall on our taste. The appetite grows with its food. But in Christ there is perennial interest. The water that He gives rises up to eternal life. In his love and service there is always satisfaction and blessedness. We need not go outside of Him for new delights; and to know Him is to possess a secret which makes all things new. I know of a gentleman, who has everything that wealth can give, but who is kept in a perpetual state of irritation, because he cannot eradicate the daisies from his lawn. There is a freckle on every flower, a stain on every leaf, a drawback in every lot, that we may be driven to find perfect fruition in God only. Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are wearisome; Man is not able to tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing. KJV Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. BGT Ecclesiastes 1:8 πάντες οἱ λόγοι ἔγκοποι οὐ δυνήσεται ἀνὴρ τοῦ λαλεῖν καὶ οὐκ ἐμπλησθήσεται ὀφθαλμὸς τοῦ ὁρᾶν καὶ οὐ πληρωθήσεται οὖς ἀπὸ ἀκροάσεως LXE Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of labour; a man will not be able to speak of them: neither shall the eye be satisfied with seeing, neither shall the ear be filled with hearing. NET Ecclesiastes 1:8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing. CSB Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are wearisome; man is unable to speak. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing. ESV Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. NIV Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. NLT Ecclesiastes 1:8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. YLT Ecclesiastes 1:8 All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor filled is the ear from hearing. NJB Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are wearisome. No one can say that eyes have not had enough of seeing, ears their fill of hearing. NRS Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. NAB Ecclesiastes 1:8 All speech is labored; there is nothing man can say. The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor is the ear filled with hearing. GWN Ecclesiastes 1:8 All of these sayings are worn-out phrases. They are more than anyone can express, comprehend, or understand. BBE Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing. All things are wearisome: Ec 2:11,26 Mt 11:28 Ro 8:22,23 man: Ec 4:1-4 7:24-26 the eye: Ec 4:8 5:10,11 Ps 63:5 Pr 27:20 30:15,16 Mt 5:6 Rev 7:16,17 Play what could be Solomon's Theme Song from Greatest Showman - listen to the words! -- NEVER ENOUGH INSATIABLE SENSES - WHEN NOTHING IS ENOUGH All things are wearisome (yagea) - NLT - "Everything is wearisome beyond description" NET = "All this monotony is tiresome". The context is the description of the monotonous cyclical aspect of nature (sun, wind, rivers). The Hebrew of wearisome implies that everything is exhausting for life is full of repetition (as just illustrated in nature - Ec 1:5-7) and endless motion that wears us down and gets us nowhere. And this speaks not just physical weariness but existential, soul-deep tiredness. John Stevenson Now the preacher takes all of the unending cycle and applies it to man's experience. There is something wrong. It seems to us as though it is nature that ought to be transient while man is the one who ought to be permanent. Alexander