All this ¹  monotony ²  is tiresome; no one can bear ³  to describe it: ⁴  The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content ⁵  with hearing.

biblegateway Ecc 1:8

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.

All things are wearisome; man is unable to speak. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.

All of these sayings are worn–out phrases. They are more than anyone can express, comprehend, or understand.

biblegateway Ecc 1:8

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

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

bibleoremus Ecc 1:8

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

All things are wearisome. No one can describe them all, no eye can see them all, no ear can hear them all.

biblegateway Ecc 1:8

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

All things [are] full of labour; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

biblegateway Ecc 1:8

All this ¹  monotony ²  is tiresome; no one can bear ³  to describe it: ⁴  The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content ⁵  with hearing.

¹ tn The word “this” is not in Hebrew, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

² 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.”

³ tn Heb “is able.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew text has no stated object. The translation supplies “it” for stylistic reasons and clarification.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.”