Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 5:16

¹⁶This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

Word by word

Each English word or phrase beside the Hebrew it translates, in the order of the English. Choose a number to open that word’s study.

English	Hebrew	Sounds like	Grammar	Word study
This	זֹה֙	zōh	Pronoun - feminine singular	H2090 this, that
too	וְגַם־	wə·ḡam-	Conjunction	H1571 also, moreover, yea
is a grievous	חוֹלָ֔ה	ḥō·w·lāh	Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular	H2470 be weak, sick
affliction	רָעָ֣ה	rā·‘āh	Adjective - feminine singular	H7451 bad, evil
Exactly as	כָּל־	kāl-	Noun - masculine singular construct	H3605 the whole, all
a man is born	שֶׁבָּ֖א	šeb·bā	Pronoun - relative; Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular	H935 come in, come, go in, go
so	כֵּ֣ן	kên	Adverb	H3651 right, veritable, honest
he will depart	יֵלֵ֑ךְ	yê·lêḵ	Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular	H1980 go, come, walk
What	וּמַה־	ū·mah-	Conjunctive waw; Interrogative	H4100 what? how? aught
does he gain	יִּתְר֣וֹן	yiṯ·rō·wn	Noun - masculine singular	H3504 advantage, profit
as he toils	שֶֽׁיַּעֲמֹ֖ל	še·ya·‘ă·mōl	Pronoun - relative; Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular	H5998 labour, toil
for the wind	לָרֽוּחַ׃	lā·rū·aḥ	Preposition-l, Article; Noun - common singular	H7307 breath, wind, spirit

Other passages that speak to the same thing. Point at one to read it.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info, used under CC BY 4.0. The best-supported references for each verse are shown.

Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible.