Ecclesiastes 1:8
New International Version
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.

New Living Translation
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.

English Standard Version
All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

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

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

New King James Version
All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.

New American Standard Bible
All things are wearisome; No one can tell it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

NASB 1995
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.

NASB 1977
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.

Legacy Standard Bible
All things are wearisome; Man is not able to speak of it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

Amplified Bible
All things are wearisome and all words are frail; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor is the ear filled with hearing.

Christian Standard Bible
All things are wearisome, more than anyone can say. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
All things are wearisome; man is unable to speak. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.

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

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
All accounts are wearisome; a man will not be satisfied to speak and the eye is not satisfied to see and the ear is not filled with hearing

Brenton Septuagint Translation
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.

Contemporary English Version
All of life is far more boring than words could ever say. Our eyes and our ears are never satisfied with what we see and hear.

Douay-Rheims Bible
All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing.

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

GOD'S WORD® Translation
All of these sayings are worn-out phrases. They are more than anyone can express, comprehend, or understand.

Good News Translation
Everything leads to weariness--a weariness too great for words. Our eyes can never see enough to be satisfied; our ears can never hear enough.

International Standard Version
Everything is wearisome, more than man is able to express. The eye is never satisfied by seeing, nor the ear by hearing.

JPS Tanakh 1917
All things toil to weariness; Man cannot utter it, The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.

Literal Standard Version
All these things are wearying; a man is not able to speak, the eye is not satisfied by seeing, nor is the ear filled from hearing.

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

New American Bible
All things are wearisome, too wearisome for words. The eye is not satisfied by seeing nor has the ear enough of hearing.

NET Bible
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.

New Revised Standard Version
All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing.

New Heart English Bible
All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Webster's Bible Translation
All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

World English Bible
All things are full of weariness beyond uttering. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Everything is Futile
7All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow. 8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.…

Cross References
Proverbs 27:20
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

Ecclesiastes 1:7
All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow.

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 5:10
He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.

Haggai 1:9
You expected much, but behold, it amounted to little. And what you brought home, I blew away. Why? declares the LORD of Hosts. Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.


Treasury of Scripture

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

full

Ecclesiastes 2:11,26
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun…

Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Romans 8:22,23
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now…

man

Ecclesiastes 4:1-4
So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter…

Ecclesiastes 7:24-26
That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? …

the eye

Ecclesiastes 4:8
There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.

Ecclesiastes 5:10,11
He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity…

Psalm 63:5
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

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Ecclesiastes 1
1. the preacher shows that all human courses are vain
4. because the creatures are restless in their courses
9. they bring forth nothing new, and all old things are forgotten
12. and because he has found it so in the studies of wisdom














(8) This verse is capable of another translation which would give the sense "other instances of the same kind might be mentioned, but they are so numerous that it would be wearisome to recount them," We abide by the rendering of our version.

Verse 8. - All things are full of labor. Taking the word dabar in the sense of "ward" (compare the Greek ῤῆμα), the LXX. translates, "All words are wearisome;" i.e. to go through the whole catalogue of such things as those mentioned in the preceding verses would be a laborious and unprofitable task. The Targum and many modern expositors approve this rendering. But besides that, the word yaged implies suffering, not causing, weariness (Deuteronomy 25:18; Job 3:17); the run of the sentence is unnecessarily interrupted by such an assertion, when one is expecting a conclusion from the instances given above. The Vulgate has, cunetse res difficiles. The idea, as Motais has seen, is this - Man's life is constrained by the same law as his surroundings; he goes on his course subject to influences which he cannot control; in spite of his efforts, he can never be independent. This conclusion is developed in succeeding verses. In the present verse the proposition with which it starts is explained by what follows. All things have been the object of much labor; men have elaborately examined everything; yet the result is most unsatisfactory, the end is not reached; words cannot express it, neither eye nor ear can apprehend it. This is the view of St. Jerome, who writes, "Non solum do physicis, sed de ethicis quoque scirc difficile est. Nec sermo valet explicare causas natu-rasque rerum, nec oculus, ut rei poscit dignitas, intueri, nec auris, instituente doctore, ad summam scientiam pervenirc. Si enim nunc 'per speculum videmus in aenigmate; et ex parte cognoscimus, et ex parte prophetamus,' consequenter nec sermo potest explicate quod nescit; nec oculus in quo caecutit, aspiecre; nec auris, de quo dubitat, impleri." Delitzsch, Nowack, Wright, and others render, "All things are in restless activity;" i.e. constant movement pervades the whole world, and yet no visible conclusion is attained. This, however true, does not seem to be the point insisted on by the author, whose intention is, as we have said, to show that man, like nature, is confined to a circle from which he cannot free himself; and though he uses all the powers with, which he is endowed to penetrate the enigma of life and to rise superior to his environments, he is wholly unable to effect anything in these matters. Man cannot utter it. He cannot explain all things. Koheleth does not affirm that man can know nothing, that he can attain to no certitude, that reason will not teach him to apprehend any truth; his contention is that the inner cause and meaning elude his faculties, that his knowledge is concerned only with accidents and externals, and that there is still some depth which his powers cannot fathom. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Use his eight as he may, listen to the sounds around him, attend to the instructions of professed teachers, man makes no real advance in knowledge of the mysteries in which he is involved; the paradox is inexplicable. We have, in Proverbs 27:20, "Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and the eyes of man are never satisfied." Plumptre quotes Lucretins's expression (2. 1038)," Fessus satiate videndi." "Remember," says Thomas a Kempis ('De Imitat.,' 1:1.5), "the proverb, that the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing. Eudeavour, therefore, to withdraw thy heart from the love of visible things, and to transfer thyself to the invisible. For they that follow their sensuality do stain their conscience and lose the grace of God."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
All
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

things
הַדְּבָרִ֣ים (had·də·ḇā·rîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

are wearisome,
יְגֵעִ֔ים (yə·ḡê·‘îm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 3023: Weary, wearisome

more
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

than one
אִ֖ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

can describe;
לְדַבֵּ֑ר (lə·ḏab·bêr)
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

the eye
עַ֙יִן֙ (‘a·yin)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

is not
לֹא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

satisfied
תִשְׂבַּ֥ע (ṯiś·ba‘)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 7646: To be sated, satisfied or surfeited

with seeing,
לִרְא֔וֹת (lir·’ō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 7200: To see

nor
וְלֹא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

the ear
אֹ֖זֶן (’ō·zen)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 241: Broadness, the ear

content
תִמָּלֵ֥א (ṯim·mā·lê)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 4390: To fill, be full of

with hearing.
מִשְּׁמֹֽעַ׃ (miš·šə·mō·a‘)
Preposition-m | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently


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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of weariness beyond (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.)
Ecclesiastes 1:7
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