Ecclesiastes 5:16 Meaning and Explanation
“And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →It is a grievous thing that a man leaves exactly as he came, having toiled, in the end, only for the wind.
What Does Ecclesiastes 5:16 Mean?
The Preacher names again the ache he has just described: a person exits life in the same empty condition in which he entered it. All the gathering changed nothing about that final accounting.
To have "laboured for the wind" is to have spent oneself chasing what cannot be held, an image of toil that yields no lasting profit. This is not a counsel of despair but a summons to ask what we are truly living for. If the heart works only for the wind, it works in vain; but a life given to God and to what He values is never spent for nothing.
Ecclesiastes 5:16 in the Original Language
ruach (רוּחַ), 'wind' -- the same word for breath and spirit, used here for what is fleeting and cannot be grasped.
Frequently Asked Questions About Ecclesiastes 5:16
What does Ecclesiastes 5:16 mean?
It is a grievous thing that a man leaves exactly as he came, having toiled, in the end, only for the wind.