Ecclesiastes 1:8

NETBible

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.

NIV ©

All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.

NASB ©

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.

NLT ©

Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

MSG ©

Everything's boring, utterly boring--no one can find any meaning in it. Boring to the eye, boring to the ear.

BBE ©

All things are full of weariness; man may not give their story: the eye has never enough of its seeing, or the ear of its hearing.

NRSV ©

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

NKJV ©

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


KJV
All things
<01697>
[are] full of labour
<03023>_;
man
<0376>
cannot
<03201> (8799)
utter
<01696> (8763)
[it]: the eye
<05869>
is not satisfied
<07646> (8799)
with seeing
<07200> (8800)_,
nor the ear
<0241>
filled
<04390> (8735)
with hearing
<08085> (8800)_.
NASB ©

All
<3605>
things
<1697>
are wearisome
<3023>
; Man
<376>
is not able
<3201>
to tell
<1696>

it.
The eye
<5869>
is not satisfied
<7646>
with seeing
<7200>
, Nor
<3808>
is the ear
<241>
filled
<4390>
with hearing
<8085>
.
LXXM
pantev
<3956> 
A-NPM
oi
<3588> 
T-NPM
logoi
<3056> 
N-NPM
egkopoi {A-NPM} ou
<3364> 
ADV
dunhsetai
<1410> 
V-FMI-3S
anhr
<435> 
N-NSM
tou
<3588> 
T-GSN
lalein
<2980> 
V-PAN
kai
<2532> 
CONJ
ouk
<3364> 
ADV
emplhsyhsetai {V-FPI-3S} ofyalmov
<3788> 
N-NSM
tou
<3588> 
T-GSN
oran
<3708> 
V-PAN
kai
<2532> 
CONJ
ou
<3364> 
ADV
plhrwyhsetai
<4137> 
V-FPI-3S
ouv
<3775> 
N-NSN
apo
<575> 
PREP
akroasewv {N-GSF}
NET [draft] ITL
All
<03605>
this monotony
<01697>
is tiresome
<03023>
; no
<03808>
one
<0376>
can bear
<03201>
to describe
<01696>
it: The eye is never
<03808>
satisfied
<07646>
with seeing
<07200>
, nor
<03808>
is the ear ever
<0241>
content
<04390>
with hearing
<08085>
.
HEBREW
emsm
<08085>
Nza
<0241>
almt
<04390>
alw
<03808>
twarl
<07200>
Nye
<05869>
ebvt
<07646>
al
<03808>
rbdl
<01696>
sya
<0376>
lkwy
<03201>
al
<03808>
Myegy
<03023>
Myrbdh
<01697>
lk (1:8)
<03605>

NETBible

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.

NET Notes

tn The word “this” is not in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

tn Heb “the things.” The Hebrew term דְּבָרִים (dÿvarim, masculine plural noun from דָּבָר, davar) is often used to denote “words,” but it can also refer to actions and events (HALOT 211 s.v. דָּבָר 3.a; BDB 183 s.v. דָּבָר IV.4). Here, it means “things,” as is clear from the context: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done” (1:9). Here דְּבָרִים can be nuanced “occurrences” or even “[natural] phenomena.”

tn Heb “is able.”

tn The Hebrew text has no stated object. The translation supplies “it” for stylistic reasons and clarification.

sn The statement no one can bear to describe it probably means that Qoheleth could have multiplied examples (beyond the sun, the wind, and the streams) of the endless cycle of futile events in nature. However, no tongue could ever tell, no eye could ever see, no ear could ever hear all the examples of this continual and futile activity.

tn The term מָלֵא (male’, “to be filled, to be satisfied”) is repeated in 1:7-8 to draw a comparison between the futility in the cycle of nature and human secular accomplishments: lots of action, but no lasting effects. In 1:7 אֵינֶנּוּ מָלֵא (’enennu male’, “it is never filled”) describes the futility of the water cycle: “All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never filled.” In 1:8 וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵא (vÿlo-timmale’, “it is never satisfied”) describes the futility of human labor: “the ear is never satisfied with hearing.”