The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:11 Explained

Ecclesiastes 2:11

KJV: 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.

YLT: and I have looked on all my works that my hands have done, and on the labour that I have laboured to do, and lo, the whole is vanity and vexation of spirit, and there is no advantage under the sun!

Darby: Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that it had cost me to do them; and behold, all was vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

ASV: Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Ecclesiastes 2:11 Mean?

Context Summary

Ecclesiastes 2:1-17 - 24-26, Vain Undertakings
At the beginning of his search for happiness Solomon erected a splendid home and planned all kinds of delights of an artistic and sensuous nature. There were gardens, pools of crystal water, fruit trees, meadows filled with cattle, regal splendor, musicians who poured into the palace their sweet melodies. He went further, adding to architecture and art his intellectual pursuits. But when he had gone to the furthest limit, he turned from it all, with the old gnawing at his heart-Vanity of vanities!
A few days before the death of the great Cardinal Mazarin, he was heard by a friend to utter something of the same sad refrain. "I was walking," says this friend, "in one of the apartments of the palace, when I recognized the approach of the Cardinal by the sound of his slippered feet, which he dragged one after the other as a man suffering from a mortal malady. I concealed myself behind the tapestry and heard him say, as he looked at one picture and rare treasure after another, "˜I must leave all these.'" Let us, in the light of these things, ponder again those words of Christ in Luke 12:33. [source]

Chapter Summary: Ecclesiastes 2

1  the vanity of human courses is the work of pleasure
12  Though the wise be better than the fool, yet both have one event
18  The vanity of human labor, in leaving it they know not to whom
24  Nothing better than joy in our labor but that is God's gift

What do the individual words in Ecclesiastes 2:11 mean?

And looked I on all the works that had done my hands and on the labor in which I had toiled to do and indeed all [was] vanity and grasping for the wind and [There was] no profit under the sun
וּפָנִ֣יתִֽי אֲנִ֗י בְּכָל־ מַעֲשַׂי֙ שֶֽׁעָשׂ֣וּ יָדַ֔י וּבֶֽעָמָ֖ל שֶׁעָמַ֣לְתִּי לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת וְהִנֵּ֨ה הַכֹּ֥ל הֶ֙בֶל֙ וּרְע֣וּת ר֔וּחַ וְאֵ֥ין יִתְר֖וֹן תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ

וּפָנִ֣יתִֽי  And  looked 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: פֹּונֶה 
Sense: to turn.
בְּכָל־  on  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
מַעֲשַׂי֙  the  works 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: מַעֲשֶׂה  
Sense: deed, work.
שֶֽׁעָשׂ֣וּ  that  had  done 
Parse: Pronoun, relative, Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
יָדַ֔י  my  hands 
Parse: Noun, fdc, first person common singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
וּבֶֽעָמָ֖ל  and  on  the  labor 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָמָל  
Sense: .
שֶׁעָמַ֣לְתִּי  in  which  I  had  toiled 
Parse: Pronoun, relative, Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: עָמַל  
Sense: to labour, toil.
לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת  to  do 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: עָשָׂה 
Sense: to do, fashion, accomplish, make.
וְהִנֵּ֨ה  and  indeed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
הֶ֙בֶל֙  [was]  vanity 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֶבֶל  
Sense: vapour, breath.
וּרְע֣וּת  and  grasping  for 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: רְעוּת  
Sense: longing, striving.
ר֔וּחַ  the  wind 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
וְאֵ֥ין  and  [There  was]  no 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
יִתְר֖וֹן  profit 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: יִתְרֹון  
Sense: advantage, profit, excellency.
תַּ֥חַת  under 
Parse: Preposition
Root: מִתְחָה 
Sense: the under part, beneath, instead of, as, for, for the sake of, flat, unto, where, whereas.
הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ  the  sun 
Parse: Article, Noun, common singular
Root: שֶׁמֶשׁ  
Sense: sun.