Sep 20, 2026 · 4 min · 5 segments
**By David A. Edwards** ***Church Magazines*** With a little background, you can find some inspired wisdom in Ecclesiastes.
One, it's all about the point of view from under the sun.
One phrase that appears frequently throughout the book of Ecclesiastes is under the sun.
You might be thinking, isn't everything in the world under the sun? And you'd be right.
Everything in the world is under the sun.
That's the key.
This phrase is basically a metaphorical way of saying, from a worldly point of view.
So, for example, when it says, What profit hath a man of all his labor, which he taketh under the sun? It's not saying that work is useless, or that you shouldn't work outside in the sun.
It's saying that those who spend all their energy on worldly things aren't really getting much out of it in the end.
Here's how the prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon said it, Do not spend your labor for that which cannot satisfy.
Understanding that the book is trying to highlight this perspective helps clarify much of what you see in the book.
One, it's all about the point of view from under the sun.
One phrase that appears frequently throughout the book of Ecclesiastes is under the sun.
You might be thinking, isn't everything in the world under the sun? And you'd be right.
Everything in the world is under the sun.
That's the key.
This phrase is basically a metaphorical way of saying, from a worldly point of view.
So, for example, when it says, What profit hath a man of all his labor, which he taketh under the sun? It's not saying that work is useless, or that you shouldn't work outside in the sun.
It's saying that those who spend all their energy on worldly things aren't really getting much out of it in the end.
Here's how the prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon said it, Do not spend your labor for that which cannot satisfy.
Understanding that the book is trying to highlight this perspective helps clarify much of what you see in the book.
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