BIBLE VERSE STUDY
Ecclesiastes 5:18 — Labor as God's Gift
Eating, drinking, and finding good in one's toil is called good and comely — this enjoyment is the portion God gives.
Scripture
18Behold, that which I have seen to be good and to be comely is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, wherein he laboreth under the sun, all the days of his life which God hath given him: for this is his portion.
What this passage means
Ecclesiastes 5:18 presents a concrete conclusion drawn from observation: what the speaker has seen to be 'good and comely' is a person eating and drinking and finding enjoyment in all his toil under the sun, throughout the life God has given him. The wording moves from observation ('Behold, that which I have seen') to evaluation ('good and comely') to a specific practice (eating, drinking, enjoying good in labor). The repeated phrase 'under the sun' anchors this enjoyment within the ordinary, visible realm of human life rather than in any hidden or transcendent reward.
The verse defines the enjoyment not as self-generated pleasure but as a 'portion' — something allotted to a person. The labor itself is 'under the sun,' and the life in which it takes place is 'which God hath given him.' The sentence structure joins divine gift ('which God hath given him') with human activity ('wherein he laboreth'), so that the enjoyment of work is presented as the share God assigns within an earthly, finite existence.
By calling this portion 'good and comely,' the verse supplies a deliberate counterweight to the surrounding griefs described in verses 15–17: coming naked from the womb, returning naked, gaining nothing from labor, eating in darkness, sickness, and wrath. The same conditions (mortality, limited gain, the nothing one can carry away) still hold, yet within them a specific practice — receiving daily goods from God and finding good in one's work — is singled out as the fitting human response.
Context
Verses 15–17 set up the bleakest framing of the passage: a person returns as naked as he came, gains nothing he can carry away, and spends his days eating in darkness with sickness and wrath. Against that backdrop, verse 18 does not deny the conditions but reorients what is counted as 'good.' The Hebrew root idea behind 'portion' here is simply an allotted share; enjoyment of labor is that share within the limits just named.
Verses 19–20 then extend the thought: when God gives riches and wealth along with the power to eat of them, to take a portion, and to rejoice in one's labor, that is called 'the gift of God.' The next line adds that such a person will not much remember the days of his life, 'because God answereth him in the joy of his heart,' linking the portion of verse 18 to a divine response that fills the heart.
Common questions
Why does Ecclesiastes 5:18 say enjoyment of labor is a 'portion'?
The verse calls enjoyment in labor a 'portion' because it presents that enjoyment as something allotted to a person, not self-produced. The labor is under the sun and the life is 'which God hath given him,' so the share a person receives within earthly life is this good and comely practice of eating, drinking, and enjoying good in one's toil.
How does verse 18 relate to the bleak description in verses 15–17?
Verses 15–17 describe coming and going naked, gaining nothing one can carry away, eating in darkness, sickness, and wrath. Verse 18 does not remove those conditions; it says that within them, eating, drinking, and finding good in one's labor is 'good and comely' — the fitting human share God assigns.
How does verse 18 connect to verses 19–20?
Verse 18 defines the portion as enjoying good in one's God-given labor. Verse 19 calls it 'the gift of God' when God gives riches and the power to eat, take a portion, and rejoice in labor, and verse 20 adds that God 'answereth him in the joy of his heart,' so the enjoyment named in verse 18 is tied to God's responsive gift.