Ecclesiastes 1:8

Translations

Modern

All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

Traditional

All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Literal

All the things are wearisome—a man is not able to speak; the eye is not satisfied from seeing, and the ear is not filled from hearing.

Latin

Cunctæ res difficiles; non potest eas homo explicare sermone. Non saturatur oculus visu, nec auris auditu impletur.

Original

Hebrew

English

All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

Notes

Ecclesiastes 1:7–8

The sea is never full, and we are never satisfied. This image shows how life can feel unfulfilling.

Ecclesiastes 1:2–11

The Teacher starts by noting that every natural and historical activity has a repetitive cycle of coming and going, existing and not existing. This can cause some to feel that everything is meaningless. The Teacher quickly shifts from one topic to another and ends this section with the topic he began with, using a literary style that reflects the cycles he describes in nature and human history.

Related verses

Proverbs 27:20
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Ecclesiastes 4:8
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.
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Revelation 7:16–17
‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’
Ecclesiastes 5:10–11
He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Ecclesiastes 4:1–4
Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
Psalm 63:5
My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.
Romans 8:22–23
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
Proverbs 30:15–16
The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
Ecclesiastes 7:24–26
What exists is out of reach and very deep. Who can fathom it?

Glossary

Book of Ecclesiastes Futility

Topics

Covetousness: General Scriptures Concerning Eye of Evil Desire, Never Satisfied Man: Spirit The Ear: Not Satisfied with Earthly Things The Eye: Not Satisfied with Seeing Worldliness: General Scriptures Concerning

Ecclesiastes 1:8

Translations?

Original?

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Related verses?

Glossary?

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