Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work.This phrase reflects the theme of finding contentment in the simple pleasures of life, a recurring motif in Ecclesiastes. The Preacher, traditionally understood as Solomon, emphasizes the fleeting nature of worldly pursuits and the importance of appreciating daily blessings. In the ancient Near Eastern context, eating and drinking were not only necessities but also communal activities that fostered relationships and gratitude. This aligns with the biblical principle of contentment found in
1 Timothy 6:6-8, which encourages believers to find satisfaction in God's provision. The enjoyment of work is also highlighted in
Genesis 2:15, where Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden to work and take care of it, suggesting that labor is part of God's original design for humanity.
I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
This acknowledgment underscores the belief that all good things come from God, a central tenet in biblical theology. The phrase "hand of God" signifies divine sovereignty and providence, reminding readers that God is the ultimate source of all blessings. This echoesJames 1:17, which states that every good and perfect gift is from above. The recognition of God's hand in the enjoyment of life's pleasures serves as a call to gratitude and humility, acknowledging that human efforts alone cannot secure true satisfaction. This perspective encourages believers to trust in God's provision and to see His hand in both the mundane and the extraordinary aspects of life.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
SolomonTraditionally considered the author of Ecclesiastes, Solomon was the king of Israel known for his wisdom, wealth, and extensive building projects. His reflections in Ecclesiastes are often seen as a culmination of his life experiences.
2.
IsraelThe nation over which Solomon reigned. The cultural and religious context of Israel during Solomon's time influences the themes of Ecclesiastes.
3.
The Hand of GodA phrase indicating divine providence and blessing. It suggests that the ability to enjoy life’s simple pleasures is a gift from God.
Teaching Points
The Gift of EnjoymentRecognize that the ability to enjoy life’s simple pleasures, such as eating, drinking, and working, is a gift from God. This perspective encourages gratitude and contentment.
The Role of WorkWork is not merely a means to an end but a part of God’s design for human fulfillment. Finding joy in work is a reflection of God’s blessing.
Divine ProvidenceUnderstanding that enjoyment comes from the hand of God helps us to see life’s pleasures as part of His providential care, encouraging us to live with a sense of trust and reliance on Him.
Contentment in SimplicityIn a world that often seeks fulfillment in excess, this verse calls believers to find contentment in the simple, everyday blessings provided by God.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes 2:24?
2.How does Ecclesiastes 2:24 encourage finding joy in daily work and life?
3.What does "from the hand of God" imply about God's provision in Ecclesiastes?
4.How can we apply Ecclesiastes 2:24 to our modern work-life balance?
5.Compare Ecclesiastes 2:24 with 1 Corinthians 10:31 on glorifying God in activities.
6.How does Ecclesiastes 2:24 challenge our perspective on material success and contentment?
7.What does Ecclesiastes 2:24 suggest about finding joy in work and daily life?
8.How does Ecclesiastes 2:24 align with the belief in divine providence?
9.Does Ecclesiastes 2:24 imply that earthly pleasures are gifts from God?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Ecclesiastes 2?
11.What does "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry" mean?
12.Are pleasures everlasting?
13.Ecclesiastes 4:7–8 emphasizes the vanity in labor for one without an heir—does this conflict with the Bible’s call to stewardship and fruitful living?
14.In Ecclesiastes 11:7–8, how does the encouragement to enjoy life reconcile with passages elsewhere that emphasize self-denial or suffering?What Does Ecclesiastes 2:24 Mean
Nothing is better for a manSolomon has surveyed wealth, wisdom, pleasure, and toil, only to label most of it “vanity.” Here he pauses to declare what truly rises above emptiness in day-to-day life.
• This is not a cynical “make the best of a bad situation,” but a genuine affirmation of God-given good (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13).
• “Better” points to what is fitting, wholesome, and beneficial, echoingPsalm 34:8—“Taste and see that the LORD is good.”
• Paul later urges believers “to set their hope on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17), showing that Solomon’s insight still stands.
than to eat and drinkBasic nourishment becomes sacred when received gratefully.
• God “fills our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).
• Daily bread is a direct answer to the prayer Jesus taught (Matthew 6:11).
• Even simple meals display God’s kindness, just as “wine gladdens the heart of man” and “bread sustains his heart” (Psalm 104:15).
• The New Testament elevates this further: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
and enjoy his workWork was part of paradise before the Fall (Genesis 2:15), and it remains honorable when embraced as stewardship.
• Satisfaction comes not from status or accumulation but from recognizing labor as a calling—“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23).
• “All hard work brings a profit” (Proverbs 14:23), yet the ultimate reward is the inner joy God grants while we labor.
• When we see our tasks—paid or unpaid—as service unto Christ, toil turns into worship.
I have also seen that this is from the hand of GodThe ability to relish food, drink, and vocation is not self-generated; it is a divine gift.
• “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).
• Moses warned Israel, “Remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the power to gain wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).
• Recognizing God as the Giver safeguards us from idolatry of pleasure or work; gratitude replaces grasping.
• Solomon’s phrase “from the hand of God” underscores both provision and sovereignty—the same hand that fashioned the universe (Isaiah 48:13) now extends daily mercies to His children.
summaryEcclesiastes 2:24 teaches that amid life’s fleeting pursuits, God invites us to receive and enjoy His simple gifts: food on the table, drink that refreshes, and work that engages our abilities. These pleasures are not ends in themselves but pointers to the gracious hand of the Giver. When embraced with gratitude and viewed through a God-centered lens, they lift us above vanity and anchor us in joyful dependence on Him.
(24)
Nothing better.--"Not good" is the sense of the Hebrew as it stands, for it will be observed that the word "than" is in italics. But as this word might easily have dropped out by a transcriber's error, interpreters, taking in connection
Ecclesiastes 3:12;
Ecclesiastes 3:22;
Ecclesiastes 5:18;
Ecclesiastes 8:15, generally agree to modify the text so as to give it the meaning of our version, according to which the sense is: "Seeing the uncertainty of the future, the only good a man can get from his labour is that present pleasure which he can make it yield to himself; and whether he can even enjoy so much as this depends on God." If the text be not altered, the sense is: "It is not good for a man to eat, &c, seeing it depends on God whether or not that is possible."
Verse 24. -
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink. The Vulgate makes the sentence interrogative, which the Hebrew does not sanction,
Nonne melius est comedere et bibere? Septuagint
Οὐκ ἔστιν ἀγαθὸν ἀνθρώπῳ ο{ φάγεται καὶ ο{ πίεται, "There is naught good to a man to eat or drink;" St. Jerome and others insert
misi, "except for a man to eat," etc. This and the Authorized Version, which are more or less approved by most critics, make the writer enunciate a kind of modified Epicureanism, quotations in confirmation of which will be found set forth by Plumptre. It is not pretended that the present Hebrew text admits this exposition, and critics have agreed to modify the original in order to express the sense which they give to the passage. As it stands, the sentence runs, "It is not good in (
בָּ) man that he should eat," etc. This is supposed to clash with later statements; e.g.
Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13;
Ecclesiastes 8:15; and to condemn all bodily pleasure even in its simplest form. Hence commentators insert
מ ("than") before
שֶׁיּלֺאכַל, supposing that the initial mere has dropped out after the terminal of the preceding word,
adam (comp.
Ecclesiastes 3:22). This solution of a difficulty might be allowed were the Hebrew otherwise incapable of explanation without doing violence to the sentiments elsewhere expressed. But this is not the case. As Metals has seen, the great point lies in the preposition
ב, and what is stated is that it does not depend on man, it is not in his power, he is not at liberty to eat and drink and enjoy himself simply at his own will; his power and ability proceed wholly from God. A higher authority than his decides the matter. The phrase, "to eat and drink," is merely a periphrasis for living in comfort, peace, and affluence. St. Gregory, who holds that here and in other places Koheleth seems to contradict himself, makes a remark which is of general application, "He who looks to the text, and does not acquaint himself with the sense of the Holy Word, is not so much furnishing himself with instruction as bewildering himself in uncertainty, in that the literal words sometimes contradict themselves; but whilst by their oppositeness they stand at variance with themselves, they direct the reader to a truth that is to be understood" ('Moral.,' 4:1). They who read Epicureanism into the text fall into the error here denounced. They take the expression, "eat and drink," in the narrowest sense of bodily pleasure, whereas it was by no means so confined in the mind of a Hebrew. To eat bread in the kingdom of God, to take a place at the heavenly banquet, represents the highest bliss of glorified man (
Luke 14:15;
Revelation 19:9, etc.). In a lower degree it signifies earthly prosperity, as in
Jeremiah 22:15, "Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice? then it was well with him." So in our passage we find only the humiliating truth that man in himself is powerless to make his life happy or his labors successful. There is no Epicurean-ism, even in a modified form, in the Hebrew text as it has come down to us. With other supposed traces of this philosophy we shall have to deal subsequently (see on Ecclesiastes 3:12; 6:2).
And that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor;
i.
e. taste the enjoyment of his labor, get pleasure as the reward of all his exertions, or find it in the actual pursuit.
This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. This is the point - the power of enjoyment depends on the will of God. The next verse substantiates this assertion.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
Nothingאֵֽין־(’ên-)Adverb
Strong's 369:A non-entity, a negative particle[is] betterט֤וֹב(ṭō·wḇ)Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2896:Pleasant, agreeable, goodfor manבָּאָדָם֙(bā·’ā·ḏām)Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120:Ruddy, a human beingthan to eatשֶׁיֹּאכַ֣ל(še·yō·ḵal)Pronoun - relative | Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 398:To eatand drinkוְשָׁתָ֔ה(wə·šā·ṯāh)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8354:To imbibeandוְהֶרְאָ֧ה(wə·her·’āh)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318:To go, bring, out, direct and proximenjoyרָאִ֣יתִי(rā·’î·ṯî)Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7200:To seehis work.בַּעֲמָל֑וֹ(ba·‘ă·mā·lōw)Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5999:Toil, wearing effort, worry, wheth, of body, mindIאָ֔נִי(’ā·nî)Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 589:Ihave alsoגַּם־(gam-)Conjunction
Strong's 1571:Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, andseenהִֽיא׃(hî)Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931:He, self, the same, this, that, as, arethatכִּ֛י(kî)Conjunction
Strong's 3588:A relative conjunctionthis [is]זֹה֙(zōh)Pronoun - feminine singular
Strong's 2090:This, thatfrom the handמִיַּ֥ד(mî·yaḏ)Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3027:A handof God.הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים(hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430:gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative
Links
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OT Poetry: Ecclesiastes 2:24 There is nothing better for a man (Ecclesiast. Ec Ecc Eccles.) 
