The Meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:22 Explained

Ecclesiastes 2:22

KJV: For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?

YLT: For what hath been to a man by all his labour, and by the thought of his heart that he laboured at under the sun?

Darby: For what will man have of all his labour and of the striving of his heart, wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun?

ASV: For what hath a man of all his labor, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboreth under the sun?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For what hath  man  of all his labour,  and of the vexation  of his heart,  wherein  he hath laboured  under the sun? 

What does Ecclesiastes 2:22 Mean?

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 2:22 mean?

For what has man for all his labor for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun
כִּ֠י מֶֽה־ הֹוֶ֤ה לָֽאָדָם֙ בְּכָל־ עֲמָל֔וֹ וּבְרַעְי֖וֹן לִבּ֑ו‪‬‪‬‪‬ שֶׁה֥וּא עָמֵ֖ל תַּ֥חַת ؟ הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ

לָֽאָדָם֙  man 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
בְּכָל־  for  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
עֲמָל֔וֹ  his  labor 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: עָמָל  
Sense: .
וּבְרַעְי֖וֹן  for  the  striving 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רַעְיׄון  
Sense: longing, striving.
לִבּ֑ו‪‬‪‬‪‬  of  his  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
שֶׁה֥וּא  with  which  he 
Parse: Pronoun, relative, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
עָמֵ֖ל  has  toiled 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָמֵל 
Sense: labourer, sufferer, wretched one.
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.