Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
The Gift and Capacity to Enjoy
The gift is to eat and to take one's portion
It is good and comely to eat and to drink and to enjoy the good of all his labour all the days of his life, which God gives. Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.
He shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answers him in the joy of his heart. Capacity to enjoy is itself given. It is not a technique, and it is not guaranteed by the size of the pile.
How this should shape us
When enjoyment is possible, receive it without guilt-theater. When it is not, do not accuse the person of failing a spiritual exercise.
Teach it back
Explain Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 in your own words. Include its movement, one material uncertainty, and one harmful or reductive use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The force of 'answereth,' the relation between wealth and divine gift, and whether the joy is distraction, response, or grace remain debated.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 5:18-20
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1204-1205, translation and notes on 5:18-20
Supports: Whole-book orientation, language and date questions, Qoheleth's voice, unit movement, irony, contradiction, enjoyment, death, judgment, and epilogue.
Weeks, 'Ecclesiastes,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 422-428, commentary relevant to 5:18-20
Supports: Detailed passage analysis of labor and gift, time and limit, injustice, desire, death, enjoyment, youth, aging, and the book's life-oriented synthesis.
Kennedy, Ecclesiastes and Life (Edinburgh PhD, 2024), pp. 38-60, 61-90, 91-116, 117-152, 153-176, and 177-210 as relevant to 5:18-20
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ecclesiastes
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, repeated-word, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Eccl.xml, 5:18-20
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Ecclesiastes with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, lexical, literary, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Ecclesiastes PDF, printed pp. 1204-1205, translation and notes on 5:18-20
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Ecclesiastes
Stuart Weeks
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book orientation, language and date questions, Qoheleth's voice, unit movement, irony, contradiction, enjoyment, death, judgment, and epilogue.
Exact location: Weeks, 'Ecclesiastes,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 422-428, commentary relevant to 5:18-20
Open source ↗open access doctoral thesis
Ecclesiastes and Life: Living in the Face of Frustration
Graham Kennedy
University of Edinburgh, 2024
Supports: Detailed passage analysis of labor and gift, time and limit, injustice, desire, death, enjoyment, youth, aging, and the book's life-oriented synthesis.
Exact location: Kennedy, Ecclesiastes and Life (Edinburgh PhD, 2024), pp. 38-60, 61-90, 91-116, 117-152, 153-176, and 177-210 as relevant to 5:18-20
Open source ↗